


Episode ix revisited: in which the Skywalker actually does rise.

by Crackedkybercrystal



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anal Sex, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Miscarriage
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:21:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22619311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crackedkybercrystal/pseuds/Crackedkybercrystal
Summary: Rey looked down at her chest where the beads had hung just a moment before, their absence was the only evidence that the connection had really happened at all, that and the ragged edge of cloth that Kylo had torn when he snatched them from her. "Rose, Rey called out," "we have to go, we have to leave right now."The force bond opens and Kylo snatches the beads off Rey, using them to locate her and the Resistance.Negotiations take place.Hux is worried about the growing rise of the Palpatine cult.We spend time with RoseRey DOES NOT end up aloneRey is not a Palpatine.Likes deeply appreciated
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Finn/Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Rey and Rose go shopping

After she closed the door on his kneeling form and took off from the cursed salt fields so fast that the Falcon was barely a streak of white before it winked into hyperspace, after she spoke with Leia and hugged Finn and straightened beebee’s antena, after Poe told her what had happened to Rose, and she saw just how few of them were left, Rey finally found a dark corner to curl herself up in and close her eyes. She wanted to weep, she wanted to scream into the emptiness of space, until Luke Skywalker himself would have to tell her to “keep it down kid”. But all she felt was numb. There was so much to process, they were lucky just to be alive, but what happened now? Not even Leia seemed to have any answers beyond surviving another day to lick their wounds. The first priority was finding somewhere to hide. Flying about in one of the most iconic resistance ships may have been a childhood fantasy, but right now it amounted to having a beacon screaming out their location to anybody that was watching. They had to ditch the old girl and fade into the background fast. That meant a port, one that was big enough to hide in, where Leia could call in favours, and they could regroup. Sh’ung-tesk was an asteroid trading post that fit the bill. It was primarily a livestock port, where nerf herds were quarantined before being shipped to markets serving the inner core, but it also hosted a lively side market in ships and all things necessary for intergalactic transport. It had an additional advantage in that Poe knew somebody willing to open a hangar door so that the Falcon could land and disappear without questions.

The first night, they sat around a table and started to hatch out the hazy outline of a plan. There were so few of them, they could all stand under the Falcon and shelter from a dust storm. It was decided that Rey and Rose were the best choice to go out to the sale yards the next day for a new ship and supplies. Finn stood up and spoke passionately about his belief that there must be other stormtroopers who had deserted, and more still who would if they were encouraged, if they knew they were not alone. He wanted the Resistance to reach out to any who would listen. “You’ll have to record a holo,” Leia replied. “Tell your story and we’ll get it out, make sure every settlement big enough to have a solitary receiving dish knows your name. This is a commitment Finn, there’s no resigning from that sort of notoriety, you’ll never be able to disappear, it can be lonely in the spotlight, I would know.” The general looked him squarely in the eye. If he was uncertain, if he wavered in his commitment, now was the time to turn aside, but Finn just nodded, acknowledging her words. “This feels right to me,” he stated simply. “The First Order stole me from my family, connecting to all the others who were taken.....”, he paused for a moment, unable to speak, but then he continued “This is important, this is how we start to make it right.” Even without the force, Rey thought she could feel the love rolling off Rose as they all listened to Finn speak.

There was no sunrise on Sh’ung-tesk, just an alarm waking Rey and Rose at a time that felt painfully too soon to emerge from their bunks. It didn’t feel to Rey that she had even truly been asleep, more as if she was just suspended in time, watching him look up at her from the salty ground, but always unable to do anything other than close the door and turn away. The two woman stepped down the Falcon’s ramp and found Poe and Chewie talking outside and drinking caf. Chewie was reminiscing about the shadowlands of Kashyyyk, Poe listened, smoking a death stick in a rare moment of calm. Rey frowned, the smell reminded her of Unkar Plutt and the Niima outpost. “You’re off for the shopping trip?” Poe asked with a cocked brow. Rey nodded. Most of their group were still sleeping and even the hanger had a quiet she didn’t want to disturb. “I hope you don’t mind the smell of nerf herders,” he grinned.

“I’ve smelt worse” Rose replied, besides, our masks will filter out most of it.

At the mention of their masks, both of the woman lifted them up into place. With their hoods drapped low over their heads, their disguises were complete. “Be careful,” Chewie growled, “and don’t forget the parts we need.”

“We’ll be back before the next shift takes over,” she reassured the wookie with what she hoped was a passing imitation of Poe’s breezy confidence. Through the voice modulator, she couldn’t recognize herself, she just swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and turned towards Rose before they walked off to the market place.

By the time the woman arrived in the auction rooms, a crowd had already gathered and the sales were proceeding at a clip. They watched for a while to understand the rhythm and adjust to the prices that were being exchanged. There was nothing showy on the blocks, nothing that was heavily armored or would draw attention in any way. These were work-a-day transports pure and simple, mostly for livestock, a few smaller vessels for the farmers’ and traders’ personal use. “One of the smaller units will do us,” Rey whispered to Rose, “we just need to make sure the compressors are all in working order.”

“I like the look of the next item,” Rose replied, “the catalogue lists it as having belonged to a moisture farmer, who only drove it to temple once a cycle.” Rey could tell Rose was rolling her eyes beneath her mask. “Who believes this guff?” The auctioneer’s gavel finalized the sale of some carbon pumps and a group of Jawas stood up to claim their purchase. The bidding commenced for the transport. Did Rey hope that nobody else in the room would be interested enough to bid against them? Well, that was only natural she supposed, and if in her zeal, she radiated that hope and suggestion out to the room, which had become unnaturally quiet, until the gavel fell and the woman walked off with an astonishing bargain, then who was Rey to question the ways of the force?

After exchanging the necessary credits and paperwork, all of it forged, but still looking more official than anything else they’d seen here, the girls walked down to the market stalls. “I know these hoses weren’t on the list,” Rey said as she sorted through boxes of parts, “but you know we’re always blowing through them, and that’s a good price.” Rose agreed, and the pair were soon haggling until they were satisfied. Afterwards, they took some time to wonder about, enjoying the sights and sounds.

This insignificant melting pot in the mid rim had remained largely unchanged, regardless of who was in power. The traders had gone about their daily lives under the Galactic Republic, had witnessed Imperial star cruisers passing by, cheered on the heroes of the New Republic and now shivered under the ever expanding shadow of the First Order. Through it all, the old men sat around the market place gossiping while the woman hauled the day’s takings back and forth, the children ran about laughing and playing. There was a stall selling red fruit that smelled so sweet Rey couldn’t resist the temptation. The owner filled a small bag with the juicy globes, but before they left her young daughter, looking bored as she sat next to her mother, asked Rey what her name was. Although she was concealed by the mask, Rey smiled at the girl and answered “Rey”. The girl reached out and presented Rey with a string of brightly coloured beads. “Oh,” Rey gushed, “they’re beautiful, but they’re yours, I can’t accept them.”

The youngling just scrunched up her nose and grinned. Her mother laughed “we insist,” she said, “it’s unlucky to refuse.” With this pronouncement, both mother and daughter seemed to have resolved the exchange to their satisfaction, and moved on to the next customer. Rey placed the bright beads over her head and thanked them both once again before she bit into the sweet fruit and walked on.

“Oh, look at these”, Rose exclaimed as they walked past another stall. It sold lacy undergarments and played a holo showing a blue Twi’lek dancing about in the skimpy garments. Rey blushed and looked down at her feet. When she had first arrived at the Resisitance, she hadn’t owned any undergarments at all, just a cloth she wrapped to bind her breasts. Leia had helped her settle into the quarters the first night and brought her new clothes, including the first real undergarments she had ever worn. Then Rey had blushed because she thought how simple and unsophisticated she must have appeared to the general, who had once been a princess. But Leia had seemed unaware of Rey’s obvious shortcomings, and had just placed the pile of things next to her bunk and showed her how the sonic cleaning stations worked. Rey had wondered if this was what having a mother would be like.

Rose had begun to sort through the pile of silky offerings. “Do you think Finn would like me in a bright colour,” she asked Rey, “or something more traditional, like these?” Rose held up a scrap of black lace that would conceal nothing, and would certainly offer no support if Rose was clambering up the side of a star cruiser, Rey thought.

“The blue looks nice on you,” Rey observed, trying to be helpful.

“Hmmmm, stay here while I try these on,” Rose replied, “I won’t be long.” With that, Rose stepped behind the curtains at the back of the stall and Rey turned back to look out at the crowd as she waited for her friend. It was then that she felt the force connection open up, as suddenly as a thunder clap the unnatural silence descended, the echoing of their heartbeats felt more than heard. She was face to face with Kylo Ren. Although Rey still wore the full face mask and hooded robe of her disguise, she knew that Kylo could see her as if she was standing naked , exposed before him. They could not hide from each other. He was dressed in his usual black uniform. Rey couldn’t tell if he was alone or not, only that he didn’t hesitate to whip out his hand and grab at the beads that hung around her neck. She gasped and pulled up her mental shields, the connection was severed as if it had never happened. Rey was at full alert, heart pounding, her senses lit up, attuned to the slightest disturbance. She squeezed the hilt of her lightsaber tightly beneath her robes, clammy with sweat and ready and willing to strike at anything that came for her. But nothing stirred, the crowd continued to shuffle past, she heard Rose haggling over the piece she had selected. Rey looked down at her chest where the beads had hung just a moment before, their absence was the only evidence that the connection had really happened at all, that and the ragged edge of cloth that Kylo had torn when he snatched them from her.

“Rose,” Rey called out, “we have to go, we have to leave right now.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux goes to church  
> Kylo drinks tea

When Hux assembles with the other congregants for the ceremony, it’s easy for his mind to wonder to a less than worshipful place. Is that Pryde all puffed up in the front row he thinks? Of course it’s impossible to be certain, they’re all wearing cloth hoods, like sacks with eye holes that obscure their identities. This gathering would be unthinkable without the anonymity. But still, something about the way the man stands has Hux fairly certain it is the Allegiant General. The priest at the front of the small room has been droning on for what feels like at least 3 full cycles as far as Hux is concerned. This particular cult is fashionable among the upper echelon officer classes, but does anybody truly believe that Palpatine survived the Death Star? The faithful claim he’s been in hiding all this time. Hux contains the snort of derision that threatens to burst out at the idea. What’s he been doing all this time, Hux conjectures, building up a sith fleet? And who’s staffing this grand fantasy? He’d gladly worship at the alter of any lord that could solve the pressing issues of recruitment. There really are only so many children that even the First Order can steal, and after the destruction of Star Killer, that number is a lot smaller than what is needed just for replacement, to maintain their current contingent. The recruiting crisis had meant a skeleton crew was onboard the Supremacy, otherwise their losses would have been even greater. They’ll have to start breeding the livestock themselves soon, he thinks with disgust. At these moments he reminds himself of his father, so he stops dead that particular train of thought. There lays madness, he knows. 

The individual that Hux has come to consider as Pryde, steps forward to the base of the alter. He kisses the relic that the priest presents and intones “As I served you in the old wars, I serve you now.”

Hux can’t stop his eyes from rolling back in his head. Oh great he thinks to himself, just another opportunity for the old guard to flaunt their past glories. Yes, yes, he’s heard it all before from his own father too many times. Everything was bigger and better under the Empire. An officer knew what he stood for, what his duty was. Not like the current crop of milk sops. To the older generation, anybody born after the Battle of Yavin was a spoiled snowflake who wouldn’t know his blaster from his elbow. ‘Weakling’ was the word Brendol used most often to describe his son. Hux felt his jaw tense up as the figure at the front of the room drank the communion...... he doesn’t have the faintest idea what the liquid is. Everybody was now shuffling forward to do likewise, at last this farce was drawing to an end. Hux places his lips to the chalice to sip the least amount of liquid he can get away with, then he walks out of the room as quickly as possible, only slipping the hood off when it’s safe. 

Back in his quarters, Hux pours himself a glass of Corellian whiskey to wash away the taste of whatever the hell it was in the communion chalice. The only reason he’d started attending the Palpist cult was to figure out just how popular it was and if it could be bent to serve his own purpose. People gullible enough to believe that Palpatine was still alive and pulling all the strings would swallow any old guff that was preached from the pulpit, but lately reports were coming in that the Palpists was doing more than just hiding in backrooms and kissing old rings. A droid had walked into the Church of Infinite Perception on Pergitor and detonated a suicide vest. The Palpists were claiming responsibility. Hux didn’t know if it was a straight forward power play for the hearts and minds of the rigid fundamentalists, or if it was just to create chaos. That was the kind of environment that the sith tended to thrive in. At least the Supreme Leader wasn’t involved with the cult. Hux thought Ren was capable of venerating just about anything, he’d personally witnessed Ren on his knees for hours before Snoke, and it seemed the knights were constantly traveling to old temples searching for who knows what, but apparently even Ren drew the line at this latest insanity. Hux sighed and took another gulp from his whiskey tumbler.

Ren had let the last of the Resistance slip through his fingers on Crait because he was so triggered by the apparition of Skywalker. He wasn’t just unstable after the battle, he was barely clinging to sanity. But it was a development Hux could use. While Ren and his knights were busy chasing shadows and whispers all over the galaxy, Hux was running the First Order, solidifying their gains, strategizing for their future. Let the older generation like Pryde spend all their time and energy dreaming about a past that can never return, worshiping the dusty bones of a sith Lord dead before Hux was born. He had his own eyes trained on the present, building to the future. 

The comm lights up on his interface, “yes,” he responds. 

“General, you requested to be advised when the Supreme Leader left the Finalizer.”

“Acknowledged,” Hux responds, closing the channel.

After he had snatched her beads, it was the work of mere minutes to have them analyzed. By the time he was in the cockpit of the Interceptor, the location of the system had been identified and transmitted to his navigation system. He trusted that once within range, the force bond would guide him to her. Rey, Rey, Rey, there were times it seemed even his pulse beat to her name. He was self aware enough to recognize his obsession, but he also knew it to be the will of the force, as natural as gravity that he was drawn to her. 

As Ren’s ship emerges from hyperspace, he barely acknowledges the other vessels that have fallen into position around him, his knights. Rey’s beads were formed from a clay distinct to the third planet in this system, but the force bond is pulling him elsewhere, to a satellite trading post in the system’s outer reaches. He comms through an order to lock down the facility, he doesn’t want so much as a nerf ’s fart to escape that site before their arrival. The Interceptor’s engines roar under his guidance, he may be focused on Rey with singular intensity, but he still appreciates the sound of the twin ion engines straining as they pull up to a landing bay. Two knights maintain the vigil from close orbit. They will ensure that nobody launches before Kylo’s arrival at the hanger that he has zeroed in on. A lackey arrives to bow and scrape, but he doesn’t have the time for the insect, he’s got her now, he can taste it. The bond is roaring with the strength of a hurricane, the force is swirling around them and won’t be denied . Kylo knows the chronometer is ticking and every moment counts. If Rey hadn’t started running the moment the force bond had closed, (and why wouldn’t she?) then she was fully aware he was coming for her the moment his ship dipped out of hyperspace. One of his knights has force choked the lackey, this seems to speed things up nicely. They’re on speeders within seconds, moments later they pull up to a hanger port. He knows that the Millennium Falcon and his mother are on the other side of the door, but it appears that for once he has time, he can feel Rey running up from behind them towards the hanger, she must have been at some distance when he snatched the beads, he feels her frustration and fear. Kylo turns around as she runs into view before him. She’s still dressed in the robe that he saw when the bond had opened, but she’s thrown away the mask, her hair is a disheveled mess. 

Kylo watches Rey assume the classic stance and ignite a blue light saber, it's pale glow highlights the side of her face and the slight curve of her breasts. It’s not his grandfather’s saber, she hasn’t been able to rebuilt it, but somehow she’s gotten her hands on another one, probably his mother’s doing. He smiles at her, how can he resist it, she’s so damn beautiful. He knows that she has the full attention of the two knights next to him, so he orders them and his cock to stand down. He thinks he shouldn’t have brought them with him at all, he doesn’t want to share her with anybody, but how could anybody resist her. Although he is turned towards Rey, Kylo is fully aware when the hanger door opens and his mother steps out, surrounded by the liars and thieves she calls friends. He really doesn’t want to take his eyes off Rey, but he turns his head and says “mother, I’ve come to talk. Should we have some tea, or would you prefer me to kill every living thing on this rock before I leave with her?” There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind to whom he is referring. 

“Ben,” Leia replies with all the regal grace and authority that only Leia Organa can muster. “I’ll have 3PO put on the kettle.” Leia gestures for Ben to proceed her, and he does, turning his back on the rabble. He would know if anyone was planning to kill him before they were able to so much as twitch a muscle. He silently orders the knights to remain at their post near the doorway. Rey has lowered her weapon and is running up to them. Before they have reached the ramp of the Falcon she has caught up.

“Leia,” Rey cries out. “This is all my fault. He found us because of me.” She sounds so distressed, Kylo has turned towards her and opened his mouth before he even knows what he’s going to say, but his mother for once seems to know what to do. She takes Rey into her arms. “It’s okay Rey,” Leia says. “Ben and I are just going to have some tea. Why don’t you join us.” With that, Leia lets Rey go and walks up the ramp. Rey glares at Ben but follows Leia. Kylo takes a deep breath and falls in behind. 

If anything could distract Kylo from the onslaught to his senses which is Rey, then it would be this, entering the Millennium Falcon again. He thinks it’s the smell more than anything that takes him back to the last time he walked up this ramp half a life time ago. Everything seems smaller and dirtier than he remembers, but there is a memory associated with every glance. Chewie teaching him holo chess, Luke telling him old stories about Obe-Wan before his mother would insist he get some sleep. But above them all are memories of his dad. Every surface is infused with the love that Han had not just for the Falcon, but for all of them, for everything. It makes Kylo choke up, and he clears his throat before he can proceed. 

“If I’d had the luxury to arrive in a command shuttle, I would have insisted this meeting take place onboard my own ship, but I required the speed of the Interceptor, so here we are.” Kylo shrugs. He doesn’t really know why he’s saying any of this, but the silence had felt too awkward to endure. 

“I had a vision last night that you found me and arrived in an Interceptor” Rey replies, much to Ren’s surprise. Only in my dream, we were on a desert planet, and I lept up as you flew past and severed one of the engines with my saber. The strangest part was that after you crash landed, you strode out without so much as a hair out of place. Rey lowers her eyes, but Kylo smirks when he ‘hears’ her thoughts continue the story. ‘I couldn’t take my eyes off you.’ 

“The force works in mysterious ways,” Leia mutters before sipping her tea.

“Rey,” Kylo continues, what we have, our connection through the force, it’s so rare. We’re a dyad, two that are one. Your vision about severing one of the twin engines and my ship careening out of control, I think it’s the force trying to warn us about balance. I could no more hurt you than I could cleave myself in two. I don’t care about a dozen violent criminals trying to start up a new system of government. We all know” and here he looks at his mother, “that at any given time there are always crackpots and decenters, people who think overthrowing the system by any means necessary is the only way.” Kylo turns back to face Rey. “Hell, there’s a system near Draxos that places a sacred rock at the head of their government. But I’ve got a galaxy to govern and I need you, my other half.” Kylo hadn’t meant to be so blunt, hadn’t meant to sound so pathetic. This is what happens when you just open your mouth without much of a plan he thinks. “Without you, there’s no point, the endless wars will continue with no balance in the force. I’ll slowly go mad and maybe you’re all fine with that, but I think you need me to remain stable just as much as I need you.” 

Rey reaches out her hand and cups the side of Kylo’s face. “I did want to take your hand, Ben’s hand, when you offered it to me” she confesses. He’s aware of a slight tingling across his skin but it won’t be before he next steps into the fresher that he becomes aware that she’s healed every scar on his body.

“Rey, Ben is dead. I can’t be a Jedi anymore than you could be a sith. I can’t deny who I am. I want you to accept me for who I am, I don’t want to change you either. I know you and I.... “ Kylo pauses at this point and looks at Rey closely.”Will you return with me?” he asks. “If you won’t, then I will stay here with you, or anywhere else you go, but I think our place should be where we can have the most impact.”

“You mean have the most power,” Rey replies.

“Yes, that’s part of it,” he says. “There’s no use pretending that the force hasn’t chosen us Rey. Together we’re even more powerful. We can pretend that doesn’t matter and turn our backs on the galaxy. We can set up a moisture farm on Tatooine, or try our hands as nerf herders. But if you want to wield that power, if you want to see the changes in the galaxy that you claim, then you need to be at the center of it all.” 

“And what if I want to use that power to set people free Kylo?” Rey presses on. “You’re right that we’re barely more than a shuttle crew here, but there are voices crying out all over the galaxy. Children who never knew their families,” she swallows down tears before she can continue. “Parents desperate to protect their children. Planets stripped bare by the First Order, entire systems destroyed. I won’t sit by while they call out for justice.” 

Kylo holds out his hand towards her, “Please,” he says. This time Rey reaches across and takes it in hers. If Kylo had thought the force was like a hurricane when he first arrived, it’s intensity now is even more extreme. He stands in the eye of the storm with Rey, as the force rages and flares around them. The fate of the galaxy may not have been decided, but the track that it runs along may have just crossed over, as they hurtle towards their destiny.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of chit chat, setting up for the action still to come (She winks suggestively)

The hardest part, it turns out, is convincing the others that Rey isn’t just defecting to the First Order. The look of hurt on Finn’s face in particular cuts Rey to the quick. But the opportunities that are opened up for all of them are undeniable. Finn’s is no longer just a message of hope, now he can talk about real change. There are several million children aged between seven and fifteen at First Order training facilities and military academies. Some of them can be reunited with families, but most are either orphans or have no records to reconnect them to their family of origin. 

Kylo accepts that forced child conscription (‘slavery’, Finn corrects him) must stop immediately or there can be no further negotiations. Rey can feel Kylo bristling at Finn’s tone, he’s not accustomed to hard limits being imposed. She sees a flash through the bond , knows that Kylo has weighed up the option of slicing through everybody assembled, he estimates he could wipeout the table in well under a minute. But that leaves Rey, the only reason he’s here, the counterpoint to every demand that’s being made of him. This is the first step towards balance, and so he opens up a secure comm to General Hux in front of everybody and informs him of the new direction in First Order recruitment.

“I see,” is Hux’s measured response. “While I applaud your intentions, Supreme Leader,” (nothing in Hux’s tone has risen to a mere polite clap) “this accelerates the enlistment crisis that has been looming for some time.”

“The old model won’t work anyway Hux” Kylo responds. "This has always been our exposed underbelly. We need to move forward. Let’s use Captain Phasma as our new exemplar.”

“Of a sadistic psychopath?” Finn interjects.

“No, as a voluntary conscript who thrived in the First Order.” Kylo calmly counters. “Parnassos has conditions that most sentient beings want to escape. It’s not the only planet where people are looking for a ticket off world and a better life.”

“Does that mean you’ll keep systems in poverty and chaos just to motivate recruitment? Parnassos was destroyed by Con Star Mining. Is that what you think will solve this, allowing the unchecked greed of corporations to do the dirty work for you?” Rose glares across the table. Conscription was the only viable alternative to starvation on her home planet after the First Order had finished with it. 

“I dream of a time when planets like Parnassos and....,” Kylo’s glance passes over Rose, seeking the information to continue, “Hays Minor will be rehabilitated. When peace and order mean we no longer require a large standing army, but that day is not yet here. This is something we will give our children if we get it right, if we do nothing, then the forces of chaos and lawlessness devour the galaxy. This is a time when we are asking everybody to sacrifice to build a better future.”

“We’ll use that on the recruitment holo,” Hux quips. “ We’ve actually had a working paper on the recruitment crisis circulating for some time,” Hux informs everybody, including Kylo who had no idea that the issue had risen to that level. 

Leia picks up the negotiations without pause. “What about democratic representation, the resumption of the senate?” This is met with considerably less openness by the Supreme Leader.

“It was an open sewer of corruption. I will not consider it.” These are Kylo’s final words on the subject. Mother and son glare at each other. 

“Where do you intend to establish the seat of government now that the Hosnian system is no longer an option?”

The not so subtle dig is apparently lost on Kylo. “I think we will continue to base our operations from an interplanetary position. It’s easier to defend, despite recent setbacks.” He returns Leia’s glare. 

“So you’re planning to take Rey back to the Finalizer?” Poe asks. 

“Not immediately, no.”

Rey had not thought what it would mean in a practical sense for her to work alongside the First Order. “Kylo,” she asks, suddenly shy to discuss their relationship in front of an audience. “What would be my role in all of this?” Through the bond she adds that if he had thoughts about her being his apprentice, he is sadly mistaken.

Kylo smirks back at her, sending an image of Rey on her knees before him in a throne room that looks a lot like the blood clot where Snoke had entertained. In his vision, she is wearing a lot less than his other knights. Now it's Rey's turn to narrow her eyes and glare.

“We are equals in the force Rey,” Kylo replies earnestly. “There are always situations that need my attention. You will define your own role as you see fit, but at least initially, come with me on my next mission.” Rey notices that he doesn’t say where this mission is or why he plans to go. She nods a vague accent and the negotiations move on. 

“I suggest that somebody from here be placed at the table with our chain of command,” Kylo states. “They can report back and of course, provide an alternative perspective.”

Rey recognizes this as an unexpectedly generous offer from Kylo. Before she can second guess herself, she opens her mouth and says “Rose, I know it’s asking a lot, but I think that should be you.”

“Me?” Rose is shocked. “I’m an astro mech, not a diplomat. Shouldn’t this be Leia?” All eyes turn towards the general. 

“No, Rey is right,” Leia responds. “And so is .....Kylo.” It’s obvious to everybody that using the name costs her dearly. “It’s time for the next generation to step up, and yes, you are an astro mech Rose, and a damn fine one. But like all of us, you’re going to stretch your wings to become so much more.” This seems to settle the decision, it is Rose that will travel to the Finalizer. Of course there are concerns for her safety. Could she be summarily executed on arrival? Kylo gives assurances to the contrary. Finn is not convinced, but in the end Rose accepts the risk. She is as determined as they all are to make a real difference. 

Finn’s role is the most clearly defined. An entire department and substantial resources would need to be established to deal with the aftermath of child slavery. Although units of stormtroopers were trained across the galaxy, Arkanis, as the birthplace of the First Order’s legions holds the most obvious symbolic value. Kylo thought Hux would be secretly pleased to know his father, who had founded the corps, would be turning in his grave. 

That night, after Kylo and his knights had withdrawn to where ever it was they were staying, (Rey may have mentioned that a pit would be most fitting) everybody seemed to shrink back into their own corner and think about what this meant for their cause as well as for themselves individually. They were being split apart to cover a lot of ground. It was perhaps the best way to ignite the spark of hope and change that the galaxy desperately needed, but Rey knew that Rose and Finn were particularity sad at the parting. A bottle or two of the local alcoholic beverage, appropriately brewed from nerf milk, made an appearance. For better or worse, this was the path the force had placed them on.


	4. Chapter 4

When Rose stepped into the conference room fifteen minutes early for the first of her regularly scheduled meetings, she hadn’t anticipated that she would be the last person to arrive. The others, all men, mostly old enough to be her father, stand when she arrives. It’s one of those old fashioned curtesies that is expressly calculated to let her know in no uncertain terms that she is not, and never will be their equal. LZ80, the protocol droid assigned to assist her walks ahead, then stands quietly in the corner. This is what they are all expecting from her she realizes. 

Rose takes her seat and begins listening. It’s soon obvious that there are two poles of power at the table. The most obvious gravitates towards Alligent General Pryde who has left his bridge on the Steadfast for the day’s meetings. He’s clearly used to the sound of his own voice and being the undisputed authority.

The opposite pole is general Hux, who wears his uniform so crisp and sharp, it could cut your eye just from looking. Hux tends not to speak as much as Pryde, but clearly enjoys correcting his fellow officer when he deems it necessary. “And how do we know that this outsider,” Pryde looks directly at Rose, “isn’t the mole we’ve been searching for?”

Hux groans audibly. “Firstly, Alligent General,” he begins, she may well have received information from our leak, but as this is Miss Tico’s first time aboard the Finalizer, it’s absurd to finger her as the source.”

“And secondly?” Pryde continues. It’s obvious that Hux's logic hasn’t convinced him in any way.

“She’s here at the personal invitation of the Supreme Leader himself. Should I put through a comm and have him clarify his position?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Pryde snaps.

The meeting resumes. Mostly it’s about the changes necessitated by the new recruitment regime but item 35b on the agenda references the organizations recycling efforts. In text, and sanitized from a distance, it all sounds very noble. The First Order seeks to minimize waste by repurposing and reusing resources where ever practical. In reality, Rose is aware that despite the good intentions, the practicalities are questionable. It has led to cheap child labour as the primary source of scavenged material on poor planets like Jakku. Rose clears her throat and clarifies that the recent initiatives prohibiting child slavery throughout the First Order are not limited to the recruitment of soldiers, but apply equally to civilian contractors. The protocol droids at least take note. 

Her eyes have begun to glaze over, but Item 52 on the agenda grabs her attention, the Palpatine Cult. Like most people in the galaxy, Rose is aware who Emperor Palpatine was and how he was overthrown by the heroic actions of Luke Skywalker, but she’s never heard of a cult, and she can’t imagine why it’s an item at a First Order meeting.

“You will all be aware,” Hux commences, “that radical Palpist have been instigating violence and rigid adherence to their beliefs, spreading chaos across numerous systems.”

“How is this any concern of ours General?” Pryde interrupts. 

“I thought everything in the Galaxy was a concern for the First Order sir” Hux replies blandly. “Additionally, emissaries from three different systems have contacted us requesting intervention.”

“Surely this is a local issue and not something we should become embroiled in,” Pryde counters.

“Under normal circumstances I would agree with you,” Hux replies, “but I think this is an opportunity of sorts.”

“How so?”

“These are populations asking us to take up a position among them. Not only are they inviting us in, they are willing to pay for the privilege. I need hardly remind everybody present that after our recent loses.....” He leaves the sentence hanging. “If there is a power vacuum, history teaches us that the strongest will rise up to fill the void. Let’s not sit by idly when just such a vacuum is opening before us. Let us fulfill the mandate of this organization to bring order and stability to the galaxy."

Rose can feel that many at the table are sympathetic to Hux’s view, but nobody speaks to either support or condemn the proposal. 

“Your recommendation has been noted General,” Pryde dismisses the item and the meeting continues.

Several hours later Rose returns to her quarters with LZ80. Rose has worked her whole life, her earliest memories are sorting through piles of rock with Paige looking for anything of value that might have been overlooked by the miners. Noodling they called it, which made it sound a lot more fun than it actually was. But this, sitting still and absorbing information under constant scrutiny in an openly hostile environment has her exhausted in a whole other way. She flops down on the bed. At least she’s been given private quarters, that’s something she never had at the Resistance. Rose is just about to ask LZ80 about how to get a meal, when the buzzer to her door sounds. She sits up and looks at her interface. Rose can see that General Hux is standing outside. What could he possibly want with me she thinks, running back over the many tedious hours spent during the day’s meeting. 

Rose instructs LZ to open her door and Hux steps inside. “Miss Tico,” he says by way of greeting. “I wondered if I might escort you to the officer’s mess?”

Rose hesitates. Dealing with the isolation of her situation was not something she had fully appreciated before her arrival. There really are only so many conversations she can have with LZ80. Calls off the Finalizer are restricted and closely monitored, she hasn’t so much as seen Finn’s face since they parted on Sh’ung-tesk. But while she’s weary of being manipulated, she’s also open to networking. This could be an opportunity as much as a liability. Rose is under no illusions. She fully recognizes Hux as the architect of Star Killer Base. His fanatical speech that day had been broadcast across the galaxy. But maybe she can make this situation work in her favour. “Why General,” Rose smiles, “that would be lovely.” Hux offers her his arm, and they stroll, yes, that is how Rose would best describe their perambulation, down the corridors to the officer’s mess. 

A droid greets them in the hall and ushers them to a quiet table. Rose looks over the tablet that is handed to her, listing the wide variety of dishes on offer. “This is a lot more than we have at the Resistance base,” she says. “What’s popular?”

“Popular?” Hux repeats. “I believe the staff replicate diets from a lot of the officers’ home worlds.”

“Arrhh, that makes sense,” Rose nods.

“There’s a lot from Akanis,’ Hux adds.

“That’s where you’re from, isn’t it?” Rose prods. 

“Yes,.... But I wouldn’t necessarily recommend the food, it’s nutritionally balanced and perfectly serviceable, but give me a fiery Dathamirian curry any day.”

Rose clearly does not hide her surprise. Hux openly grins. “I may have been born in Akanis, but I spent a lot of time in the Unknown Regions. It taught me to appreciate many things, food, but also the company one keeps while partaking.”

The droid returns to take their order. Hux states that he’ll have his usual. Rose decides on the spot that she’ll “also try what the General is having, thank you.”

The selection of spicy dishes that are served are all delicious, the conversation flows easily. Hux’s manners are formal and old fashioned, but he’s able to answer a lot of questions that Rose has about the command structure. “I had feared after Snoke’s death that my own career would be severely curtailed. I’ve always had a rivalry with Ren,” he frankly admits to Rose. “It would only be natural for him to undercut my position, to back someone like Pryde to my detriment, but he has been surprisingly supportive, despite my more unconventional tactics.” 

“Star Killer Base?” Rose asks, “I don’t know if unconventional is how I would describe that.”

“No, not Star Killer,” Hux replies. “I am the Resistance mole.” 

“What!” Rose gasps. She quickly lowers her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “You’re the one that’s been passing information on to the Resistance?”

Hux nods.

“But why? No offense, but you ARE the First Order. What are you playing at?”

“It’s a complicated game of multidimensional wookie chess,” Hux deadpans. 

Rose is not remotely satisfied with the response. 

“Do you want to know what the last message I sent to the Resistance was?”

Rose nods.

“I said Palpatine is back.”

Rose frowns, “do you mean literally, or that his supporters are a growing threat?”

“Does it matter? A holy war fought in his name will yield the same outcome whoever or whatever is actually sitting on the sith throne. I think this is the greatest challenge the First Order has ever faced.”

It’s a topic of conversation that is hard to come back from. They stand from the table in silence and Hux walks Rose back to her quarters. Rose’s mind is in turmoil. She can’t reconcile this intelligent, charming and thoughtful man with the image of the General Hux the galaxy saw on Star Killer Base, but she wants to know more.


	5. Chapter 5

The sale on the old transport is final and complete. There is no way that Rey can get the credits back for a vehicle they no longer require. Rose had left for the Finalizer a few hours ago on an Upsilon Command shuttle. Rey had stuck her head in on the pretense of carrying her friend’s bags, but she really just wanted to get a closer look at the beautiful beast. The contrast between the sleek and graceful lines of the Upsilon and the hulk that was before her now could not have been more dramatic. It was space-worthy, she was sure of that, but it would be slow, guzzle fuel, and here’s something she hadn’t appreciated until right now, stunk like a happabore in rut. 

Kylo stood behind her as she made her inspection. “Why are we bothering to do this?” he asked. “I could just as easily have ordered two shuttles to arrive for pickup this morning, or would you prefer to travel sitting on my lap in the Interceptor?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You just have to say so Sweetheart.”

“We’ve spent good credits on this ship,” Rey fumed, “I refuse to just throw it away.”

“You can’t be serious? I know I said I’d be willing to try nerf herding with you, but honestly, this is not what I had in mind.”

“If it was crucial to get to Kef Bir urgently, I can only assume we’d already have left. Therefore, I see no reason why we shouldn’t use the ship we have. " 

Poe, Chewie and Leia had left the previous evening on the Falcon. They’d been vague about their destination so Rey hadn’t pressed for details. Finn, Cova Nell and Merl Cobben were planning to leave for Akanis by the end of the day. Kaydel decided she would just go back to spend some time with her family before joining back up where she was needed. Rey didn’t blame her, in fact, she was jealous that Kaydel had the option. 

Kylo had clearly instructed his knights to leave, at least Rey hadn’t seen them again after the negotiations had wrapped up. There didn’t seem to be any other reasons to delay their departure. So here she was on a transport that was new when Vader was still terrorizing the galaxy. The thrusters engaged and they breached the thin atmosphere of the asteroid without too many warning lights flickering. Rey held her breath and engaged light speed. There may have been a slight sputtering delay, but the stars soon shot by them in the unmistakable pattern of hyperspace.

“I wasn’t sure we were going to make it for a moment there,” Kylo teased. 

Rey patted the console, the old girl just hasn’t flown in a while, but once her juices are up and running, she’ll get us where we need to go.”

“I’m sure,” Kylo winked.

Rey blushed, “What was your first ship?” she asked to change the subject from flowing juices. 

“The Grimtaash,” Kylo replied. “I haven’t thought about her in a long time.”

The image of a teen-aged Ben Solo, giddy with the simple joy of piloting his ship, flashed through the force bond. 

The flight to Endor’s moon would take most of the day so they both stretched out and settled in. One thing the old freighter had in spades was space. It didn’t take long before they started practicing forms together, which led inevitably to sparing. 

“I always feel like you’re holding back when we fight,” Rey said.

“I’ve never wanted to hurt you,” Kylo replied. 

“It’s just us now,” Rey grins, whacking him on his exposed left flank with one of the struts they had repurposed as training blades.

Kylo’s eyes gleam for just a moment, this is the face Rey saw piloting his ship all those years ago. He spins and ducks, she can’t quite follow the movement it’s so quick and unexpected, his own strut has somehow twisted around to smack hers out of the way and he’s tripped her over his calf. Now she’s on the ground with Kylo straddling her chest, locking her arms tightly in place. 

“Yield,” he demands from her.

“Never!” she laughs back.

Kylo leans down, their lips are so close, Rey digs in her heels and tumbles them over to regain the upper hand. 

“I can take whatever I want,” Rey mock threatens him.

“You can take it Rey,” he responds, “just reach out and pluck it.”

Rey smiles and releases him. She’s not yet ready to end this game of cat and mouse that they’ve been playing since Takodana. She reaches out for a water bottle and then lies down besides him. “What do you expect to find on the death star?" she asks. 

“I’m not entirely sure. Maybe nothing, but there’s been a lot of interest in Palpatine lately, and I think this is somewhere that we’re meant to go together.”

“You don’t really think he’s still alive do you?’ she asks. 

“No-one is ever really gone in the force,” Kylo replies. “How much of what’s been going on is directed by Palpatine or just his army of fanatics? That’s something I can’t answer.”

They lie next to each other, just breathing, until Kylo stands up and announces that he’s going to fix some rations. They’d loaded up on all the basics that morning, and Kylo had actually transferred some bottles of wine off the Upsilon shuttle before it departed. It’s a simple meal but delicious. Rey thinks about the years she’s spent eating alone. “I had no idea you could cook.”

“C3PO taught me before I left for the academy,” he replies. They finish their meal and Rey brings out the Jedi texts. Sitting around the table, Kylo helps her with some of the translations that she’s been struggling with. “I’m surprised Luke gave them to you,” he tells her. “I thought the sacred library was his pride and joy.”

“I may not have asked,” she admits.

Kylo bursts into laughter. “You’ll never be a Jedi Rey.” He’s clearly well pleased by this confession, but Rey looks down, regretting what had happened on Ahch-To. 

“Don’t you dare,” Kylo suddenly warns. “Luke spent his whole life denying himself to become the perfect Jedi. In the end, the only way he could achieve it was to cut himself off from the force and lock himself away on an island where nobody could find him. That’s not living Rey, that’s just waiting to die. I’ve never been prouder of you than when you lept into that cave. You didn’t know what you’d find, but you didn’t hesitate.”

Rey looks up at Kylo. Nobody has ever really seen her before, really known her the way he does. She realizes that they’re holding hands, she doesn’t know who reached out first, only that this is right. 

In what seems like no time at all, Kylo is guiding Rey to land their ship on the outskirts of a tiny settlement. They step outside into the waning light of the late afternoon. “Let’s see if we can find some lodgings for tonight and we’ll continue in the morning,” Kylo suggests. “I need a break from that stench.”

Rey agrees, which is how they found themselves at a tavern. There’s a room for them upstairs, but right now they’re just sitting at one of the tables listening to the band play. Kylo stands and pulls Rey up to dance. “Kylo,” she breathes into his chest, “you know I can’t dance.”

“Nonsense,” comes his breezy reassurance to the contrary. “It’s just like fighting, only nobody dies.” His arms are wrapped tightly around her and it really is the easiest thing for Rey to lean into him and lose herself in the music. They dance until the band finishes up, then Kylo leads her upstairs. They step across the room still holding hands, and lie down on the bed, kicking off their shoes. Rey thinks if the galaxy was to end right now, this would be enough, but then Kylo finds her lips, and the world as she has known it really does cease to exist. 

“I’m so tired of fighting this,” she admits to him in a whisper.

“Then stop fighting it my love,” he tells her before he kisses her again, only it’s not as tender this time, it’s hard and hungry and his hands are under her tunic, running over her skin, and it feels perfect. “Lets get you out of these” he says. Kylo lifts Reys into a sitting position as if she is a doll. She holds up her arms and he pulls up her tunic, leaving her in her breast bindings and leggings. Rey thinks of the lacy under garments at the market stall. Maybe she should have brought something that day with Rose after all. But the way Kylo is devouring her with his eyes, it doesn’t seem like he minds the simple and practical garments she wears. At any rate, he’s reached behind her back and unhitched it, sliding it off her shoulders. He pulls down her leggings, then leans back to see her better, now that she is fully naked. Her skin is golden brown, stretched over hard muscles. Kylo looks at the scattering of freckles across her arms and shoulders. He reaches down and kisses one shoulder, then her collar bones, paying careful attention to the dip at the base of her throat. He works his way down until he takes the peak of her breast in his mouth. 

“Kylo,” Rey groans, her hands have started to undress him of their own accord. “I need you” is all she can say. His clothes are more structured than hers, and it seems to take an age before he has unfastened and removed his own tunic and loosened the lacing on his trousers. He lies back on the bed, his erect penis bulging through the opening in his pants. She’s never seen a naked man before, she’d never even been kissed before she lay down on this bed. Now she sits back so that she can see him properly. “You’re so beautiful” she whispers, leaning in to kiss his jawline and his neck. Kylo lies still, as full awareness of Rey’s innocence dawns on him. Now she’s curious and she wants to feel and taste every part of him. Her butterfly kisses descend from his neck to his chest. She licks his nipple and he groans. He reaches out his hands to her nipples in response, and starts to oh so gently tweak and pull at them. The sensation is divine, Rey closes her eyes and just feels. But she wants more, she needs more, “harder” she instructs him, arching her back, and he obliges. Now she’s kissing down his stomach, and here is the top of his cock. She nuzzles against the knob and feels Kylo tense and groan.

“Rey,” he intones. His hands have become tangled in her hair, she swipes her tongue over the tip of his cock, tasting the weeping precum that has gathered there, and all but combusting with desire. Kylo wraps one of his hands around his cock and pumps himself as she licks and sucks desperately at the tip, Rey can’t get enough of him. Kylo reaches down and pulls her back up on top of him kissing her on the mouth again, now Rey is shucking down his pants and rubbing her whole body against his. Kylo slows her down and brings his hand to her wet cunt as he mouths at her breast again. He starts to rub at her clit, then he brings one finger, then two, pumping into her wet channel. Rey is moaning, practically sobbing. “I want you,” she says. She pushes his hand aside and with her knees on either side of him, Rey lines his cock up and impales herself on him. He’s overwhelmed by the power surging through the force like an electric shock, supercharging every cell in his body. He thinks they might be floating above the bed now, but he can’t be certain. It takes all his control not to cum, he breathes deep and concentrates on just feeling Rey’s warmth parted around him, the smell of her hair and skin, the sounds of her groaning as she takes her pleasure, working herself back and forth until she has swallowed him to the hilt. He rolls them over then and pulls out until only the tip remains inside of her. Now that she’s adjusted to his size, he starts to pump and roll his hips with intention, pulling almost fully out just so he can feel the full length and glide of each thrust pounding into her. “Force,” he groans, “Rey, I won’t last long.” He brings his hand back down to find her clit and rubs it as he continues to thrust into her. After she screams his name, biting into his shoulder, he releases into her pumping through his own orgasm, until he is spent. When he pulls out and sees his cum begin to ooze out of her, he finds himself pushing a finger in to stop it leaking out. Rey squirms, clearly still sensitive, but he doesn’t care. Force willing, they’ll conceive. He runs his hands over her smooth stomach, fantasizing about Rey being large with his child. His dick is already twitching again.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Rey

Kylo wakes with the sunlight streaming through the window and Rey gone from the bed, but he’s not worried. Since they consummated their relationship, the force couldn’t be happier, their bond, which had already been sufficient to feel her at this distance, has increased beyond understanding. Kylo is confident he could now pinpoint Rey in any part of the galaxy. He would definitely know if she was distressed, but on the contrary, she’s found the orbak stable behind the tavern and is delightedly feeding the beasts sugar cubes. Rey senses that Kylo has woken up and he feels a warm wave of emotion emanating from her, but also some shyness about what had passed between them last night. He replies with an image of himself rubbing up against her perfect peach of an arse, which is how he had anticipated starting the morning, she laughs aloud. “Why did I know you’d be a morning person?” he asks through the bond.

“I’ve been talking to the stable hand,” she informs him. There’s a dark part of Kylo’s psyche that wants to lock Rey away and ensure she never speaks to anybody else ever again, but he’s mindful to keep those feelings walled off from her. 

“He says we can ride out to the shore on the beasts,’ she continues happily.

“I thought you refused to waste a good ship?” Kylo replies. 

“I’m not abandoning the Firefly,” she declares fiercely. “We can return for her here but take the opportunity to actually see this place from Orbak saddle. 

“Since when did that stinking hulk get a name?” he asks.

“Since she helped spread the light of hope through the Galaxy,” Rey informs him primly.

It’s been a long time since Kylo has ridden any type of beast. He had once regularly ridden banthas with Luke and the other apprentices. It was part of his Jedi training, learning to control an animal through the force. He has a feeling that Rey will force link with the animals without even being aware of what she’s doing.

An hour later they’re cantering across the plains of Kef Bir. Kylo had sensed when he sat astride the large shaggy beast it had hoped to be Rey’s mount. All of the orbaks in the stable had resonated with the chord she unwittingly rings through the force. Kylo slaps the beast affectionately on the neck, I know how you feel buddy, he reassures it through their connection. 

The off shore wind ripples through the long grass of the coastal savannah. The air smells fresh like the ocean and Endore is rising low on the horizon like an immense paper lantern. Rey pulls her mount up besides him. “I thought the forests in Takodana were my favourite place,” she tells him, “but this is magnificent.”

“If we have time, I’ll take you to the forest moon before we leave. There are these small teddy bear creatures.” Kylo sends Rey an image of the ewoks. Their cuteness has the desired effect, she is instantly besotted.

“I’m only shocked C3PO hasn’t told you about them already,” he tells her. “They consider him a living god.”

“What!” Rey gasps.

“True story,” he assures her. “Also, full disclosure, I was conceived in an ewok village.”

“Now I know you’re lying Kylo Ren,” she laughs at him.

They ride over the low ridge and suddenly the ocean is stretched out before them. The fragment of the Death Star rising above the waves is considerably bigger than Luke’s island on Ahch-To. The sheer scale of it is awe inspiring, Rey thinks about just the engineering feats necessary to produce this marvel, but the dark energy emanating from it is equally terrifying. Their orbak mounts instinctively twist and shy away from the darkness they can sense until Rey soothes them. They continue in silence down to the small fishing village on the shore line. This is where they will take a skiff across the angry ocean to the ruins. 

They ride into the hamlet which is just a handful of huts alongside over turned fishing boats and a long jetty stretching into the waves. Rey is surprised to see a group standing next to what looks like a smoking house, with its rows of fish hung out to dry. 

“Who are these people?” she asks Kylo distractedly. It’s clear they’re not locals. 

“Souvenir hunters have been visiting the Endor System since about five minutes after the battle ended,” he tells her. “But I think this group may be a bit more niche.” 

She looks at him with a frown on her face, uncertain of his meaning.

“If I’m not mistaken, they’re Palpist,” Kylo clarifies.

Rey looks at the group more carefully. They’re all wearing black hoods, obscuring their faces, but her eyes are drawn down to their hands, and her face scrunches up in disgust. All of them have mutilated their hands in a distinctive way, cutting their fingers down on each hand into grisly stumps of varying lengths. They’re standing in silence, and Rey realizes that they’re meditating, marinating in the waves of dark energy.

They ride by to the hut where they can arrange the use of a skiff. The owner eyes them suspiciously. He’s already spoken to the Palpist, Rey realizes. “The ocean is too rough today,” he calls out as they approach. “Maybe tomorrow.” 

“No, now,” Kylo states with a push of the force. “You will give us a skiff.” The man’s face has become blank as he gestures them to a vessel moored by the jetty. 

Although Rey has never sailed before, she discovers that she enjoys it a lot. The enormous waves rising up to tower before their tiny boat remind her of the sand dunes on Jakku. They struggle to keep the bow above the waterline, but it’s exhilarating in a way that’s just as exciting as flying. Rey decides she should definitely plan to do this again. 

Eventually they pull up besides an area of the ruins that provides some shelter and leap onto the wreckage. It’s not necessary to discuss which way they need to travel, the dark energy is oozing from a distinct source, like a malignant magnetic pole. They’ve been able to sail close to the point, but the sheer scale of the death star means they’ll still need to climb and hike over the surface for several hours before they arrive. They pull on their packs and set out.

It’s soon obvious that the souvenir hunters have only been able to access a small part of the ruin, the area closest to the mainland. To reach their destination, Kylo and Rey cross crevasses and submerged regions that they can only bypass by force leaping. At one point, they have to scale the side of a wall. Rey is at ease, showing off her skills to Kylo as she takes the lead. “I didn’t think I’d miss the Firefly so soon,” he yells across to her over the roar of the ocean. 

They’re both drenched through when they finally reach their destination near sunset. They enter Palpatine’s throne room through the blown out circular starport. 

The energy has become thick, Rey feels like she’s wading through syrup, it catches in her throat and she can barely breath, making her feel light headed. Rey knows that she hasn’t fundamentally changed since she stepped into the room, but she also feels different. It’s like a trick of light, when you look down to see that your tunic appears to be a completely different colour, even though it’s the same piece of cloth. 

Kylo has been standing still and staring at the throne since they entered, but Rey drops her pack and starts to move forward until she is directly in front of the seat. She turns and sits, spreading her legs wide on the floor. Rey makes direct eye contact with Kylo and she absolutely knows what she wants, what is hers for the taking, this time she intends to reach out and pluck it. Rey feels the darkness around her, but also the power of their dyad in the force. Kylo is her eternal consort through time and space, they are as they have always been, no more and no less. Because she wills it, his clothes just disintegrate into loose threads and fall to the ground along with his saber. The flat muscular planes of his naked perfection are exposed to the afternoon light. Rey looks at his weeping erection and licks her lips. “Crawl,” she commands him. 

Kylo goes down on all four, before inching towards her. He climbs the dais then buries his face into the gap between her legs lifting each one over his shoulders, he nuzzles and moans before reaching up to tear at her leggings. Then he starts to lick and suck at her cunt with focused intent. He has three of his thick fingers pushed inside of her as he sucks on her clit. Every piece of debris in the room has levitated to hover several feet above the ground, vibrating with energy as Rey feels herself drawn closer to the edge. She stretches her arms out to rest on the spines that radiate from the throne, and looks down at Kylo, “touch yourself,” she orders. His other hand reaches down to grasp his cock while Rey grinds herself harder against his face. When they both orgasm, the pieces of debris explode outwards, embedding themselves into the durasteel walls. But Rey isn’t finished yet.

Her eyes travel to a shadowy doorway leading to a side room, and another figure steps out into the throne room. It’s a perfect copy of Kylo that she has conjured up from the dark energy that pools around her, only the copy is partially clothed. It wears a pair of high wasted pants with suspenders over a bare chest. The copy walks over to the throne and takes up a position behind Kylo, who is still on his hands and knees before her. The copy kneels down, then reaches out and caresses Kylo’s hips, rubbing its erection through its trousers against Kylo’s naked arse and reaching over to lick along his spine. Rey bends down and kisses Kylo passionately, then she slides down the throne on to the floor until she’s beneath him. Kylo straightens so that his cock is at her face level, although he is still bent forwards, leaning against the seat. Rey takes his cock into her mouth and works it as the copy grinds against him.

“I think you wanted something this morning,” she reminds him through their bond. The copy has already pushed open Kylo’s arse cheeks and started licking at his hole, before pushing its tongue inside. Kylo bucks back trying to chase friction. "Please," he begs. The copy begins to push a single finger in, still licking around the edges. 

There is just this moment, like flying through hyperspace, adrift in an eternity of stars, pure sensation as Rey continues to take his growing cock down her throat, he manages to gasp out “more.” The copy pauses to pull down its suspenders, then opens the laces of its pants to reveal itself. It lines itself up and sinks ever so steadily into Kylo’s puckered hole before reaching out to grab his hair. The pain grounds him enough not to cum straight away. After just a few thrusts, the copy begins to pound away in earnest. Rey can’t keep her mouth on him because his hips are being pushed forward with the strength of the penetration, so she just holds his dick firmly in her hand and starts to pump it with the rhythm that’s been established. Kylo knows he could lift the entire Death Star out of the ocean with the raw power that’s coursing through him, he thinks he might knock the whole moon out of orbit. He cums on Rey’s tits, still covered in her modest tunic, so he reaches down and rips it open to rub whatever is left on his dick into her skin. The copy has disappeared, and it wasn’t the Death Star that moved, just the throne. It rises up from the floor momentarily, revealing a small pyramid shaped wayfinder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose chooses to leave her blueprints and go on the mission.

After their first meal, spending time together with Hux at the end of the day becomes something of a regular occurrence. They often end up at the officers’ mess after Hux rings the buzzer to her room, but sometimes Rose would just invite him into her quarters. They’d send LZ off to bring back a tray and then they’d sit on the couches and unwind. It had only been a week, but Hux was very much the best part of her days on the Finalizer. 

This evening, there was no buzz at the expected time. Rose began to fret. She hadn’t noticed any unusual activity from the other officers and there was certainly nothing alarming being broadcast over the holonet, but being the highest ranking officer aboard the command ship must pose risks. Rose wondered if she should try to contact him. Would Hux consider that an over-reach of their relationship? She chewed on her bottom lip as she eyed the comm interface. Had they become friends? Before she could make a decision, the door buzzed, Rose lept up from the couch.

Hux stood before her, cap in hand. “I’m sorry, is it too late to call?” he inquired hesitantly. 

Rose opened the door wide, “don’t be silly,” she smiled, stepping aside. 

“I was at a briefing that went over,” he continued once they had taken up their customary seats. “There’s a situation on Naboo that I believe warrants a closer look. I’ll leave in the morning, but I wanted to ask if you’d consider joining the mission.”

After a week, Rose had only just begun to settle into her routine of endless meetings here on the Finalizer. She was discovering that coming from a very different background to most of the officers she worked with not only gave her a fresh perspective on matters, but had led to her insights being highly sought after. She was already committed to several boards, meeting in fields as diverse as reviewing blueprints with the engineering department, to corporate outreach and marketing. 

“I know the timing is disruptive,” Hux continued, as if reading her mind, “but I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important and I didn’t think you’d be invaluable. I’m traveling to Naboo to speak with the Palpatine family.” Now he had her full attention. “All reports indicate that the Palpist cult continue to ramp up their operations. Naboo is ground zero for these freaks. I need to see what’s going on for myself, and I need someone who can look around and ask questions without waving a blaster around first. Somebody who can get into a room without kicking down the door. 

“Yes,” she replied without hesitation. Her work here was important, but she knew she was needed on the mission, and that was enough for her. 

Rose’s only previous experience with traveling had been with the Resistance. That had always meant hiding away where they wouldn’t draw attention and scraping by on whatever meager resources they could cobble together. It didn’t take Rose long to appreciate that traveling with The First Order was very different. They didn’t just land in Theed, they arrived.

The Prime Counselor to the Monarch, Cordelia, waited to greet them as their shuttle came in to land. Naboo was an independent planet that had not been annexed by The First Order. Its government was careful to maintain neutrality and play up connections to the Supreme leader’s family, in an effort to remain free. As such, a visit from The First Order was accorded all the importance of a state visit.

“Madam Counselor,” Hux formally bowed on alighting the ramp, “thank you for meeting us.”

“Always a pleasure General,” Cordelia replied.

After arriving at their official residency in the city, Rose was informed that a formal state reception had been scheduled for that evening. She had no idea what to do about this. Even if she had been aware that she was expected to attend a formal function, the only clothes she owned were Resistance issue uniforms and some basic office attire that she’d been wearing for the past week. A ball gown was not in her kit bag. She decided that her best option would be to just not attend, but she’d have to let people know. With this in mind, she pulled the cord for an attendant. A young woman soon knocked and entered her suite. 

“Hello,” Rose began, "I wondered if you could pass a message on for me. I understand that a reception has been planned for this evening, but unfortunately I didn’t come prepared. This is all I have.” Rose gestured to her current outfit, a pair of black trousers and a tunic that was her favourite because of the large pockets. “So I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend, please pass on my apologies.”

The young woman smiled back at Rose. “My name is Mia,” she announced. “I am a Royal Handmaid.” Rose could tell by the way Mia stated this, that she thought it explained away a situation, but what she actually meant, Rose had no idea.

“Oh,” Rose replied, “does that mean I need to let somebody else know?”

“No,” Mia said. “It means that I can get you everything you need, from styling your hair to the perfect shoes and everything in between.”

Rose looked at the chronometer. “We only have a few hours before the scheduled start, are you sure you can swing it?”

Mia only smiled again before she set to work with the precision of a military operation. 

Two and a half hours later, Hux waited in his military dress uniform at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at the chrono. His plan was to be seen by as many people as possible at the reception before slipping out to do some reconnaissance. With any luck his absence wouldn’t be noticed.

Just then, Rose came into view as she stepped onto the landing. She wore a pale blue halter neck dress that swooped down to a very low point. The gauzy layers of her skirt floated around her. There were blue roses in her hair and as she continued her descent, Hux could smell the cloud of rose scented air that hung around her. She was stunning. Hux had never seen a more beautiful woman, and then she smiled at him. He offered her his arm, as had become their custom over the past week, and they left for the reception.

A formal Naboo dinner, consisting of ten separate courses was laid out at the reception. This was followed by speeches from both The First Order, where Hux thanked their gracious hosts and toasted to their continued warm partnership, followed by a reply from the Prime Counselor, then a few words from the queen herself. In short, by the time the after dinner entertainment had begun, (a stage show with Gungans displaying some very impressive synchronized swimming maneuvers) Hux was anxiously watching for a chance to slip away. The opportunity arose when the orchestra struck up and most people took to the dance floor. 

Stepping out a side door, Hux silently jumped over the edge of a low balcony into the formal gardens surrounding the reception center. He was just about to disappear behind a hedge and into the city when he heard a noise. Turning, he saw a small figure dressed in blue alone on a stone bench. It was Rose, and she was weeping, the tears rolling freely down her beautiful face. All of his training had failed miserably to prepare him for this moment. All he knew was that Rose was upset, and before he had made a conscious decision, he walked up and sat next to her.

Rose turned and saw Hux beside her, this only seemed to make her cry harder. Hux reached out and placed his arm over her bare shoulders. “Rose?” He hoped she understood how much he had come to admire her, that he would do anything to comfort her. “What’s wrong?”

“I received a message from Finn,” she bawled.

“I see,” was all that Hux said. Of course he knew who Finn was, although Rose had never mentioned him before tonight. Finn had been responsible for the death of Phasma. 

“He says it’s not working, that he doesn’t want to be in a long distance relationship and.....” she paused, “that he’s found somebody else. Her name is Jannah, she’s another ex-stormtrooper.”

Rose began to cry again and Hux just sat patiently besides her. After a while, she seemed to have cried herself out, she took a deep breath and sat up straight. “I’m sorry,” she said, I’ve got snot on your uniform.”

Hux looked down at himself, then back at Rose. "If Finn doesn’t see how smart, kind and beautiful you are, that you’re worth fighting for and waiting for, then he’s crazy. You deserve somebody who worships you Rose."

The words were so unexpected that Rose just sat and stared back at Hux.

“I know my timing is terrible,” Hux continued, “but I was just on my way to meet up with a coven of fanatical sith. Want to come?” 

Rose stood up, “Let’s go,” she said.

Hux removed his jacket and placed it over her shoulders, then he took her hand and led her through the gardens out onto the streets of Theed.

After walking through a series of small back streets and alley ways, they arrived at a set of narrow stairs that led down below street level to an inconspicuous door. Hux knocked sharply and it opened without question. They stepped into a large, dimly lit space, “I’ve come to speak with the Abbot,” Hux announced. A figure stepped forward out of the gloom. Rose could see, even in the poor light, that his eyes were milky white and blind.

“Is the private ward at the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center occupied?” Hux asked clearly and without preamble.

The man in front of them laughed, spittle flying from his mouth. “Why General, if you require medical assistance, I’m sure we can have you seen by our specialist.”

“I prefer my surgery under anesthetic, thank you all the same,” Hux replied.

“Through pain we gain strength,” the Abbot shrugged.

The shadowy figures surrounding them all responded to the Abbot’s line, as if a benediction, by intoning in unison “through strength we gain victory.” 

“Is that why you need Exegol?” Hux questioned.

“I think it’s time for you to leave now,” the Abbot stated coldly. “Goodbye General Hux,” he turned and walked away. Hux and Rose found themselves on the other side of the door a moment later. 

“What was that about?” Rose hissed. 

Hux just pushed her into a shadowy recess and gestured for her to remain quiet. After what felt like an age, but was probably only half an hour, the door reopened. Two hooded figures slipped out and walked quickly through the streets, followed at a distance by Rose and Hux. Eventually they arrived at a hanger before disappearing inside. Hux stepped back and brought out his comm device. “The games run to ground Mitaka”

“Acknowledged,” came the reply.


	8. Chapter 8

Rose had quickly realized that Hux was goading the Abbot into action, but she was at a complete loss about what precisely had passed between the two men. Who did Hux think was in hospital and what was an Exegol? 

After leaving the hanger, the pair had hastily returned to the reception where, despite her ruined make-up and misplaced hair adornments, Hux had whisked her around the dance floor just before dawn, as the last of the revelers were finishing up. He had calculated that any questions about their absence would be put down to more amorous pursuits. The cover was acceptable to him, he only hoped Rose wouldn’t feel compromised.

It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky that Rose resurfaced from her suite at the residency. She found Hux in the dining room, where she joined him for caf and to debrief about the previous evening before they set off to see the Palpatine family. 

The first question Rose asked Hux was exactly what he had meant when speaking with the Abbot.

Hux smiled ruefully, “that’s the problem,” he explained, “I’m not entirely sure myself. Our agents on Coruscant are reporting that the old bastard,” Rose knew he meant Palpatine, “may in fact actually be alive. And I don’t mean in a 'with the force' kind of way, they’re saying living, breathing, I don’t want to imagine what else, ALIVE. I told you once it didn't matter who or what was sitting on the sith throne, just that an army of fanatics believed in it. Now I don't know what to think. Do they draw strength from him, or is he just a figure head we can defeat if his supporters become demoralized? 

It was a lot to take in. Rose pressed on, “what’s the surgical center you mentioned?”

“Arh, the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center, there’s a mouthful. It’s not so affectionately known as the EmPal SurCon Center. You haven’t heard of it?” Hux queried.

Rose shook her head.

“It’s where Palpatine took Anakin Skywalker after his fight with Obe-Wan Kenobi. Consider it the birthplace of Darth Vader.”

Rose thought back to the previous evening's conversation and shivered. “They didn’t use anesthetic when they operated on Anakin?”

“Nope,” Hux confirmed, “the sadistic prick wanted him to feel the pain, said it would make him stronger. If Palpatine really is alive, and I’m not totally convinced yet, then it makes some sense he’d either be at the hospital or at least have contacted it. His injuries after the Death Star exploded must have been extreme.”

“And Eggs.....,” Rose faulted.

“Exegol? I know even less about that. Whatever it is, the Sith Eternal, as they call themselves, seem to get very excited when you mention it. That’s the primary purpose of speaking with the family today, to see if they know anything about Exegol. It won’t be easy, they’re not known for speaking about the Emperor. It was surprising they even agreed to meet today.”

“Where do you think those two we followed last night were going?” Rose continued.

“We were able to trace them leaving Naboo’s orbit. As you know, we can track ships through hyperspace now.”

Rose just nodded, she was intimately acquainted with this development and what it had cost the Resistance.

“So, we know they entered the hyperspace lanes, but here’s the frustrating part, we still don’t know where they went, they just disappeared off our screens. Could Exegol be some new type of cloaking technology? Anything is possible.”

Before long they were seated in the back of a long black transport, being taken through the countryside to the Palpatine ancestral manor house. The sun was shining, it was a glorious day looking out on the fields of wildflowers and the pristine surface of the lakes, reflecting back the blue Naboo sky. They had been sitting in silence for a while, Rose was caught up in the beauty of the landscape. Every now and then she’d grab at Hux to point out some new wonder, a rainbow framing a particularly scenic waterfall, or a spectacular vista of the Gallo Mountain Range. 

After they’d ridden along for a while in this way, Hux cleared his throat and turned to her. “Rose, there’s something about last night that’s been bothering me.”

“Yes?” Rose replied. She thought he must mean something the Abbot had said or done.

“When we returned to the reception and danced, you must have realized my intentions were to be observed by other people, that I was planting gossip to account for our absence.”

“Yes,” Rose replied calmly. “I assumed as much, although the music was wonderful,” she smiled.

“I should have asked you first, only, people will assume, they’ll think they know how it is between us, and I know that is not what you would want. I’m aware of my reputation and,” he paused, “I don’t want you to be smeared.”

“Your reputation?” Rose felt two steps behind whatever point it was Hux was trying to make. “You mean with woman? Laying pipe?”

Hux turned bright red, almost to match his hair. “No, I’m not a,” he struggled to complete his sentence. “I mean, I’ve always been too busy concentrating on my career to find the time to date.” Rose was still clearly baffled, so Hux swallowed his pride and explained himself. “After Starkiller, I gained a reputation as a fanatical, homicidal maniac. I think it was the speech I gave, but the close up angles on the holo vid certainly didn't help.”

“Yes, well, that and the destruction of the Hosnian system.”

“Exactly,” Hux concurs. “Only that’s not me, not the real me. Yes, I was honored when Snoke placed me in charge. It was an enormous project, the biggest thing ever built in the galaxy. The engineering challenges, the sheer scale, we were reinventing the laws of physics, we were gods, and then in our hubris.....”

“Hux, you do realize that billions of innocent people were killed that day. Men, woman and children. An entire system wiped out of existence.”

“Yes, Snoke had a vision for the First Order that was truly barbarous, there’s no denying it. I didn’t question it at the time, the First Order is all I’ve ever known, and what could I have done anyway? Thrown my hands in the air and run off like Finn? It’s true that I would have been replaced with the click of a button, it’s true that the Hosnian System would have been destroyed whether it was me or somebody else who gave that speech. I’m critical about a lot of Ren’s ways. He’s a child who thinks running about the galaxy with his sword and cape is his force given destiny,” Hux rolls his eyes. “But I’ll give credit where credit is due, he didn’t just run off, he severed Snoke in two. If Ren doesn’t descend into madness, he might be our last best hope.”

Hux took a breath and continued. “But what I’m trying to get at is that since Starkiller, the only woman who are remotely interested in me are certifiably insane. They write to me on the holonet system all the time. I have to get admin staff to filter everything out so the communication channel doesn’t crash from the volume. 

Rose had no idea. “Are you telling me that fanatical homicidal maniac is just what some woman are looking for in a relationship?”

“Yes, I’m afraid that is exactly what I am saying. I have our staff send them referrals to counseling services in their systems, because they very clearly need help. But I know you’re not like that and it pains me that through association with me, people will begin to think that you are.”

“Hux,” Rose looked him clearly in the eyes. “You surprise me every day.”

By now, they were pulling up to the front of a mansion built in the classic romantic Naboo style, with countless balconies, turrets and assorted fripperies. A droid ushered them inside to the drawing room, where a very elderly lady was sitting in an old fashioned, but scandalously low cut gown. The thin graying strands of her hair were drawn into two high domes at the crown, like a pair of pert breasts. 

“Duchess Palpatine,” Hux executes a perfect courtly bow. Rose fumbles something she hopes will pass as a curtsey. 

“General Hux,” the Duchess beams.

“May I introduce my companion, Miss Tico,” Hux continues.

“Charmed, I’m sure,” the Duchess murmurs, without taking her eyes off Hux.

They’re seated and a bell is rung for tea, brought out on a tray carried by an antique looking droid who appears terrified of a misstep. Rose instantly feels a bond of solidarity with the poor thing.

“As I told you in our correspondence,” the Duchess says “I’ve searched high and low but there’s really nothing to tell. After my grand uncle left for Theed to serve in the senate all those years ago, the family barely saw him. But it’s so good of you to come out and see me anyway.” She’s pouring the tea and leans forward suggestively to reveal even more of her charms. 

Rose really is not used to drinking tea at this time in the afternoon. It seems to go right through her, she finds herself crossing her legs and squirming before she finally has to admit defeat and excuse herself to use the facilities. The Duchess doesn’t seem to mind this at all and quickly summons the ancient droid to show Rose the way. As she leaves the room, she sees the look of fear on Hux’s face as the Duchess pats the seat besides her in invitation. 

The house is sprawling and Rose can see that she’d never find the way without a guide. The droid slowly trundles down a series of long portrait galleries with pictures of Palpatines stretching back centuries in thick golden frames. Many have the same familial traits of a weak chin and bulging eyes, including the Emperor. At the end of the gallery, the ancient droid turns into a room lined with shelves each containing books, many made from actual paper if Rose is any judge. She draws in a sharp breath, the wealth this collection represents is incalculable. Surely the old droid made a mistake, the toilets are certainly not through here, but he leads on, right up to a particular shelf, with a book at eye level. The spine clearly reads ‘Exegol: Hidden World of the Sith’. After a pause so brief Rose might have imagined it, the old droid continues on its way. Rose walks by, places the book under her jacket, then continues on to a powder room that is surprisingly close at hand.


	9. Chapter 9

As it had been Rey’s will that the threads of Kylo’s clothes unravel, he insisted that it would be less complicated and easier over all if she was the one to reverse this decision, if it was her will that shifted to wanting the threads reconnected. But Rey didn’t seem entirely convinced of the wisdom or indeed necessity of this course of action. Kylo was still naked and wrapped around Rey, mostly because he just wanted to be, but also in part because she was warm and the throne room was cold. At last he persuaded her that she could always reverse any decisions about his current state of dress, and Rey reached out with her will to heal the cloth, reknitting the weave in a way that was perfectly sculptured and molded to his form. She mended her own clothes while she was at it.

After she had healed his clothing, Rey had closed her eyes and fallen asleep, exhausted by their activities and the constant press of darkness around her. Kylo had scooped her up like he had on Takodana and carried her further into the maze of corridors and rooms until he found somewhere that was sheltered from the elements but at least slightly removed from the full intensity of the throne room. There wasn’t a lot of combustible fuel in the vicinity that they could use to start a fire. Anything that could burn had done so when the Death Star had exploded all those year ago. So with Rey still in his arms, he settled into a recess and slept curled around her until morning light, when they stood up and started back for the Firefly with the wayfinder.

When they sailed the skiff back to the fishing village, the owner of the small craft was genuinely shocked that they’d survived. The seas that day had been even rougher than yesterday, a storm had blown in and heavy soaking rain had started to fall, blown about by gusts of wind that whipped off the ocean. Riding the orbaks would be miserable in these conditions and take twice as long. At last they reentered the belly of the Firefly, which if nothing else was waterproof and heated.

Rey began to study the wayfinder in earnest for the first time since it had revealed itself.

“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” she asked Kylo.

“Once, there was one that was destroyed at Vader’s fortress on Moraband. A wayfinder is the most secure way to hide a location. I suspect we will find Palpatine, or whatever is left of him at the end of this trail."

“So this is it then,” Rey asks. "We plug this in and find out once and for all if Palpatine is back."

Kylo hesitated. “Maybe,” he replied. “But it might be prudent to seek out some answers first. I think we should visit the oracle on Creatos. Both Luke and Snoke have told me some terrifying stories about Palpatine’s powers. We should seek out any advantage we can get before we face him if it comes to that."

Rey set the coordinates and they left for the oracle.

Palpatine’s throne room was a wound, a leak of dark energy flowing out and polluting the surroundings. Creatos, while still very much dark in its orientation to the force, was a quiet and sacred pool in comparison. It was soothing and enveloping, everything was at peace.

The oracle was located three days journey into a bog that bubbled up and belched gasses like a nerf’s arse. Of course it was forbidden to fly up to the island. Petitioners to the oracle were required to wash at sacred springs on the new moon before commencing their pilgrimage. It seemed like a waste of time to Rey. How could the oracle or anybody else judge who had washed amid all this stench? As luck would have it, the new moon was rising the next evening, so Rey and Kylo only had to wait one night before they could start the journey. At first they tried to camp outside beneath the Firefly, but gnats came out in swarms at nightfall, stinging and quickly driving them back inside.

At sunset the next evening, the pair stood besides the edge of the scared springs. The ablution was a two step process. After removing their clothes they quickly submerged themselves in the first pool before the gnats could attack them. This pool didn’t hold clear water, but a thick sludge of black mud that oozed into every nook and cranny. It was the first time Rey had ever been submerged in a body of liquid water, even if it was thick with mud. She was distracted by the feel of her limbs moving through the liquid and how the mud held her up like a bird in the air. They held their noses and ducked their heads under the smelly slime. Kylo ran his hands through his own hair and then Rey’s, ensuring there was enough sediment caught up in both to plant a garden. After they were fully encased in mud, like caterpillars in cacoons, they walked over to the second pool.

Rey was thankful to see this pool held clear bubbling water. They stepped into the spring and began undoing the work of the first pool, washing away the mud. Before long she found herself wrapped around Kylo as he walked them into deeper water. The feeling of his hands as he gently wiped the mud off her skin was blissful. He had Rey lay back in the water as he worked the muck out of her hair. Once they were clean, neither of them were ready to leave. Rey couldn’t recall ever feeling so at peace. Yes, she wanted Kylo, she had come to the realization that she was insatiable and would always want him. But here, as she felt his thick cock breach her entrance in the water, she also felt connected to everything around her. He moved her back and forth, pumping into her, unusually quiet with only the sounds of their breathing and the slapping of the water. They weren’t chasing their pleasure here, they were falling beneath the blanket and sinking into it. After she’d climaxed with no more than a sigh, and he’d filled her with his essence, Kylo carried Rey out of the water kissing her as he walked along.

All Rey wanted to do was stay like this forever, but they dressed, mindful to cover every bit of exposed skin against the biting insects, before setting out on their pilgrimage. To travel through the fens, they used a small flat bottomed punt that they could push along with stout poles. Their packs were filled with rations including tablets to purify the water for drinking. It wouldn’t improve the taste, but they wouldn’t get sick either.

Making unnecessary noise here felt weirdly unnatural. They listened to the countless insects, the frogs singing out, things slithering and splashing through the water. The swoop of a bird's wing. They could sense that life was at its most elemental here, it was hunt or be hunted, mate to create life, and die to return the body and complete the cycle. When they were too exhausted to continue, they pulled their punt onto a finger of ground and curled up together, wrapped in Kylo’s cloak to sleep. The sun was never clearly visible through the dense fog that lay at all times on the swamp. The only possible way to navigate towards the oracle was by use of the force, making slow but steady progress.

Early on the second day, Rey and Kylo smelled the distinct and delicious aroma of ham frying. As they punted along the smell became stronger until they began to hear voices. Through the fog, they suddenly caught sight of three figures on little more than a mound of earth rising out of the water. The people seemed oblivious to their surroundings, eating and talking at ease. As their punt continued to draw nearer Kylo felt himself freeze inside. The tallest of the figures was his father, Han Solo, and he was talking to two people Kylo recognized from the vision, when he first touched Rey’s hand on Ahch-To. These were Rey’s parents, who were just as dead as Han. Kylo looked over to Rey, it was clear that she also saw the group. He could feel how sad and confused she had become. “Mother, Father,” she called out in a pitiful voice. Now all three apparitions stopped their conversation and turned towards Rey and Kylo.

“Ben,” Han called and waved as if they were merely passing on a busy street. None of them could be there. They were just projections of their longings, and yet they stood in the dim light as seemingly real as anything.

“Rey, honey,” Rey’s parents had started to call out as well. “We’ve just started breakfast, why don’t you join us.” Both Rey and Kylo understood that their longing for the past would pull them into a place they could never escape if they allowed themselves to stop.

As they floated by, Kylo said “Dad, I....” he paused.

And Han replied, “I know,” and then they were lost in the mist which had returned to silence.

The watery channels were opening up and becoming deeper and wider as they continued. On the third day they could no longer use the poles to push off the ground, instead they relied on paddles to propel themselves along. The fog was also parting over the deeper water, so that they were able to see the island of the oracle as they approached at some distance.

In the very last of the day’s light, Rey and Kylo pulled up to the island. It was small enough that they could easily see the peculiar hemisphere that rose out of the ground in the center of the otherwise flat and featureless land. They walked up to the mound and now they could see that it was in fact shaped like the crown of an immense head, from the eyebrows up. As if a giant was buried beneath their feet and only this, the very top of its head was visible above ground. At the absolute apex of the head was a lump that looked like the engorged abdomen of a tic, whose head was buried into the mound, in a mirror image of the giant, whose body was interred.

Holding hands, Rey and Kylo stepped up to the strange structure.

Through the force, they heard a voice clearly asking “Who seeks to know the path forwards?”

Kylo spoke aloud, “I am Kylo Ren, who was once Ben Solo, and this is Rey. We seek the path.

“Who?’ repeated the voice.

This time Rey spoke. “I am Rey from Jakku, and this is Kylo Ren.”

Now there was only silence. Rey and Kylo looked at each other. What more could they say?

And that is when they both felt it. The spark of life carried within Rey that seemed to turn and grow and yet lay perfectly still at the same time. The spark answered the question.

The three of them lay their petition before the oracle. Is Darth Sidious, who was once Sheev Palpatine still alive?

“His shadow has not yet passed over to the force,” came the reply.

“Will he be defeated?”

For victory over Darth Sidious, somebody must arise and somebody else must descend.

With that, the oracle was silent.


	10. Chapter 10

As soon as she’d read the book, Rose started placing calls. At first she contacted the head of engineering and the board members, with whom she had been reading blueprints. They were sympathetic, but nobody could help her. So then she sent a call signal out to the Millennium Falcon. It took a while, the Falcon had been spending time in the hyperspace lanes and they didn’t catch up with their messages for a full day, but eventually her comm flashed, it was Poe on the other end of the line.

“Poe, we need your help,” Rose got straight to the point.

It was highly impressive, bordering on slightly astonishing how quickly Poe was able to arrive. Black 1, his X wing, flew into the hanger bay of the Finalizer just over a day later. As he pulled in to land, everybody was watching, but everybody was pretending that they weren’t. Poe slid back his cockpit cover and waved at Rose. Strapped to his chest, in what looked like a baby sling, was a small alien with wrinkled skin, whiskers and bulging eyes. This was the legendary Babu Frik.

They wasted no time bringing Babu into a conference room and showing him the book, specifically the plans it contained for building some type of astro compass, the book referred to as a wayfinder. It was finely calibrated to navigate to a specific set of coordinates. A guide that could lead them through the labyrinth to Exegol.

Babu Frik looked closely at the plans, Rose frowned before turning the plans the right way up for him to see. Babu thanked her in the lilting squeak that he used. He continued to examine the plans for a few more minutes, as they all waited on tenter hooks, then he squeaked again. “That means he can do it,” Poe grinned. “He can build this thing. He’ll need a fully equipped workshop, a droid that can handle processing imperial era relay chips, and a toasted cheese sandwich.”

“How long will it take?” Hux queried.

Babu Squeaked again, “Two days,” Poe translated, “three without the sandwich.”

Hux called out orders and Babu was soon set up to start the build.

That evening, when Rose walked into the officer’s mess with Hux, Poe was already at the bar. Three young and attractive female officers were standing around him, hanging off his every word, as he entertained with a story about crashing a tie fighter into sinking sands on his way to saving the galaxy. They’re all batting their eyes and gasping at his heroics. “Rose, Hugs,” Poe calls out when he sees them. Poe promptly leaves his audience at the bar and walks over to join them.

“Won’t you be missed?” Hux asks cynically.

But Poe just laughs. “Yeah, but the night is still young,” he winks. They all sit down together and order their meal. Poe turns to Rose after the waiter droid has left the table and says “I was sorry to hear about you and Finn breaking up.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Rose replies, and she finds herself meaning it. “I’ve heard nothing but good things about the work he’s been doing on Akanis.”

“Yeah, they seem to have a solid team there,” Poe replies. "So, how are you finding life on the Finalizer?” Poe presses on. “Missing the good old days on D’Qar yet?” He raises his eyebrows suggestively.

Now it’s Rose’s turn to laugh. They chat and catch up on news and gossip. Did she know that Kaydel was going to have a baby? No, she’ll have to send a card. Snap had been thrown out of the local tavern for getting into a fight, and Cova Nell was transferring to a unit closer to home. Rose noticed that Poe was careful not to mention Finn or Jannah, but she didn’t care enough to push it. When they’d finished eating, Hux stood up. “I’ll bid you both good evening,” he said.

“Oh,” Rose replied looking confused. “I was just getting ready to leave.” Since their first meal together, Hux had always walked her back to her quarters.

“Already?” Poe teased. “We haven’t even ordered dessert yet.”

“I’ll see you bright and early in the morning meeting Poe,” Rose smiled, then stood to leave with Hux. He walked with her, maybe slower than usual, back to her quarters.

“You know it’s obvious he’s interested in you Rose,” Hux says at last.

“Who, Poe?” Rose huffs. “He’s interested in a lot of things.”

“I noticed he left the company at the bar pretty quickly. I don’t think that was to talk with me.”

“Well, I’m interested in somebody else.” Rose replies.

“Really?” Hux looked down at his shoes.

“Yes, really,” Rose said, then she stretched up on her toes and kissed him.

***************************************************************

At the morning meeting, Poe was looking a little worse for wear, cradling his caf and sinking low into his chair. His position at the meeting was only as an outside observer, so he was hoping he wouldn’t be called on to make much of a contribution.

About five minutes in, when they hadn’t so much as read through the impressively extensive agenda, the doors burst open and in stepped Allegiant General Pryde.

“Allegiant General,” Hux immediately stood, “we weren’t expecting you today sir.”

“Evidently,” Pryde snarls. “I came when reports reached me of an alarming nature. That you’ve brought some type of freak rodent on board this ship to build I don’t know what, and travel who knows where. Well I’ve stopped all that nonsense.”

“Sir, with all due respect,” Hux replied. “We have excellent information that the device will lead us to the hidden world of the Sith.”

“The hidden world,” Pryde’s tone is dripping with derision. “And where did you get this excellent information from, your Resistance whore?”

“Allegiant General,” Hux replies coldly, “Miss Tico has been a valuable member of our team, she deserves nothing but praise for her actions in obtaining this information.”

“You’ve fallen for her lies like an egg from a tall chicken,” Pryde rebukes him. Then he looks at Poe. “In my day, we didn’t invite the Rebel scum to the morning meeting, we just executed them. But I’m going to take it easy on you bunch of snowflakes and just throw you all in the brig instead. I am assuming command of the Finalizer.” With that, he gestures for the soldiers standing behind him to escort them out of the room.

“You’re making a grave mistake,” Hux warns before he is silenced with the stock of a blaster being smashed against his face.

Two guards, with their blasters held at chest level, march Poe, Hux and Rose down the corridor towards the brig. As they round a corner, Rose stumbles. The guards are momentarily distracted but it is all the time Hux and Poe need to lash out in a blur of rapid movement, grabbing the blaster nozzles and striking the guards with their free hands. Rose meanwhile kicks them in the knees, the crack of bone breaking is unmistakable. They wrestle the blasters out of the guards hands and use the butts to knock them unconscious.

“Quickly,” Hux instructs, dragging a body into an unused side room. “We won’t have long before the alarm is raised. I can’t believe they didn’t use wrist binders. Training standards need to be reviewed on the Steadfast.”

The three make their way as quickly as possible to the hanger bay. Poe is reluctant to leave Black 1 behind, but he’s the only pilot of the three. Hux orders his personal shuttle as casually as possible, then they board and leave the Finalizer. “That was smoother than the last time I flew out of the First Order,” Poe quips.

Their first priority is to get some distance from the Finalizer. Poe punches in coordinates while Hux deactivates the numerous tracking devices that are fitted to the shuttle.

They come out of hyperspace in an area of deep space that is unremarkable and distant from just about anything. Poe thought that the shuttle would be too recognizable to try landing anywhere. Their next decision is who to contact. Hux instantly says that they should send through a comm to the Supreme Leader. Poe thought this was a terrible idea, hadn’t they just escaped from the First Order?  
“No,” insists Hux, that was just Pryde, Ren will have a very different perspective, IF they can get through to him. Hux admits he's been trying to contact Ren for the past week without receiving any response.

Both men turn to Rose for her opinion. She thinks for a moment and says “I don’t know Ren, but Rey will help us.”

*********************************************************************************

There hadn’t been much conversation on the outward journey to the oracle, but that had been a comfortable silence that fitted the quiet of their surroundings. Now, as they returned to the Firefly, the silence between Kylo and Rey was a pointed avoidance of everything they needed to say.

Kylo was the first to speak when they had resettled themselves on board their ship. “Even before you were carrying our child,” he told Rey, “I could never have risked your life. When Snoke ordered me to kill you, he might as well have ordered me to rip myself in half. I would give my last breath, my life force for you and die with a smile on my face because you lived, and I had held you in my arms, if only for a moment. But now,” he looked pointedly at her stomach, “there’s somebody else to think about too. I never thought I’d make a good father anyway, so maybe it’s better this way. If it is the will of the force that one of us must descend Rey, then you must not interfere if that puts you at risk. You have to save yourself for the sake of our child if not for yourself or me. If you don’t swear this to me, I will crush the wayfinder now. I’ll never face Palpatine, I don’t care what destiny the force thinks it can dictate, I will not do it.”

“I don’t know all the answers my love,” Rey replied. I only know that what you said on the Falcon, that there can be no balance in the force without the two of us together is true. When I was running from you, from my true self, I was still a child. But I’m not that scared girl waiting for her parents any more. The curtain has been drawn back, and I’ve stepped forward with you. We are a dyad, we complete each other, we must face Palpatine together.”

They sat in silence for a moment, at an impasse, when the comm signal on their ship lit up. There was an incoming call from Hux’s shuttle.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey pulls the plug

The Firefly and Hux's Command Shuttle interlock in deep space like two lovers sucking face. This is a rendezvous to plot their next move. Hux is scathing in his assessment of Pryde, and questions Ren for placing the Allegiant General in a position where he could attempt what Hux characterizes as a coupe. Kylo listens to the criticism but doesn’t respond. 

“I had my reasons General,” was all that he offered. Rey could feel through their bond that Pryde’s defection has shaken Kylo more than he is outwardly admitting. It isn’t clear if the Allegiant General is still loyal to Ren, or if he has intended a take over of the entire First Order. 

“Pryde is a cur,” Ren expanded. “Like all dogs, he longs to return to his master for praise. The question is, who holds his leash?” 

Everybody felt that the answers were in Exegol. “If you had communicated with us” Rose observed, “you could have saved a lot of unnecessary bother.” 

“I’m so sorry Rose,” Rey replies. “I had no idea that we would unearth this thing, or even what it was at first. We should have communicated with you before we left for Creatos, but I didn’t realize you were chasing down the same shadows through a different rabbit hole.” There was a beat of silence as everybody in the room looked at Kylo. What did he know and when did he know it? But nobody is willing to challenge him. 

“We’re wasting time,” was the only response Kylo offeres. “We need to get to Exegol and uncover exactly what rot is festering.” With this announcement, he stands up and strides back to the Firefly, his cape dramatically swishing behind him.

“Does he always leave the room like that?” Poe askes 

Rey felt torn, her ‘other half’ was undeniably a melodramatic diva, Poe and Rose weren’t accustomed to his tendency to obscure objectives, minimal justification or the assumption that his word was law. “He’s trying his best to look strong and lead,” she explained, “he just doesn’t understand how sometimes.” 

If it’s any help, I always count a meeting with the Supreme Leader that doesn’t end in a visit from a med droid to be an unexpectedly positive outcome.” They all stared at Hux, but if this was intended as humor, they can’t tell.

“Let’s make sure we don’t make the same mistake again,” Rey says. “We’re strongest when we stand together, we need everybody to know where we’re headed, and how to get there.” 

With the wayfinder wired into their navigation computer, the Firefly led the way, transmitting the course on an open signal so that anybody who cared to look could see the way. Poe followed closely behind, flying through a narrow and circuitous hyperspace lane that threaded between a maelstrom of tangled spacetime and obstacles that Poe couldn't even begin to classify. At last, the two ships arrived at Exegol.

The landscape was barren, a featureless and oppressive wasteland as far as the eye could see, the red sun made everything look unnatural. An electrical storm of ferocious magnitude raged around them. Rey strained against the howling wind, but all this was eclipsed by the sith temple that they had landed next to. It was a monolith, a single piece of black rock the size of a mountain, carved by some force that Rey chose not to contemplate. It was shaped like a pyramid and impossibly, hovered above the ground. In the shadows beneath the temple, lightening flicked far in the distance. Ren strode into the deep purple shadow with his saber held out before him. Rey also held her saber aloft and followed after turning briefly to look back at her friends. Hux strode through next with his blaster drawn, then Rose and Poe. Whatever this was, they would face it together. 

Their path soon descended into an expansive network of interconnecting caverns, dimly lit from a source that wasn’t obvious. At first they passed what looked like ancient ruins, toppled statues of sith lords and altarpieces arranged before oubliettes. But as they continued on, the structures become more modern, although still strange and difficult to understand. When they passed a series of what appeared to be bacta chambers, Kylo paused for the first time. Through the red glow of his sword, the unmistakable form of Snoke was seen floating in the clear liquid. Rey had never felt Kylo’s emotions so vulnerable and raw. Even when he had knelt in submission to her at Crait, he had maintained his own quiet dignity. But this was a gaping wound that oozed poison into his soul. She longed to hold him in her arms and comfort him, but he had become as cold and austere as the monolithic rock they stood beneath, shunning any comfort that she sent him. Attendants could be observed in the shadows, but they didn’t approach the company, and Kylo led onward in silence. 

Their path had become an impossibly long corridor, lit at regular intervals with a light that sucked out any human warmth from their appearance, so that they looked to each other like corpses, animated zombies stumbling along. After they had walked miles down the corridor, both Kylo and Rey started to become aware of a high pitched screaming in the force, like a nail raked along the durasteel hull of a junkyard freighter, it seared their nerve endings, growing in intensity as they walked along, until both of them were gritting their teeth against the painful assault. Rey tried to remember a meditation that Master Luke had taught her to help counter the pain, but it was impossible to focus on anything, until Kylo reached back with his hand and grasped hers. Joined together, they found the strength to shield their minds and continue. The corridor finally terminated at a pair of doors which swung open when pushed. They weren’t large or imposing, but rather of the type a person might see in a hospital or an office building. The unexpectedly prosaic structures swung freely as they entered the room. 

Behind the doors was the largest room they had yet encountered, with raised seating that disappeared in shadows for several thousand people at least around a central stage. There were attendants on the stage, standing around what was clearly a hospital bed. Next to the bed were monitors, ventilators, a whole bank of medical equipment including a complex looking array of drips fed through tubes to the patient lying in the bed. Kylo and Rey led their group along an aisle and up to the stage. At first, Rey looked at the attendants. They were dressed in hooded robes, but none of them responded to the group’s approach at all, they simply carried on tending to the equipment and their patient. At last, Rey turned her attention to the body lying in the bed.

It was Hux who spoke first. “We’ve seen these monks before.”

Rose looked more carefully, and sure enough, she recognized two of the men as the monks she had shadowed with Hux through the streets of Theed. Just then the doors swung open and in walked the Abbott, his milky white eyes trained upon the stage. 

“Kylo Ren,” the Abbott announced. “It is a blessing that you have at last made your pilgrimage to this holiest of sites. We’ve been waiting for you to take your grandfather’s place at our Emperor’s side.”

“So the old bastard survived?” Hux replied. “How was that possible?”

“Silence!” The Abbott roared. Hux was thrown across the stage with a push of the force, crashing like a limp rag dog against the wall of equipment. Rose rushed over to him and Poe decided that this was as good a time as any to fire his blaster directly at the Abbott, who swatted away the laser pulse like a wayward fly. 

“The screaming,” Rey addressed the Abbott for the first time. “It’s him, it’s Palpatine, screaming in the force. You must hear it.”

“Through our pain we gain strength,” the Abbott blandly replied, as if explaining a dull matter to an equally dull child.

“Who gains strength?” Rey continued. She glanced down at the body again. It wasn’t radiating any threat that Rey could perceive, just unimaginable pain, an animal reduced to its most primitive functions, desperate for escape. She took in the banks of equipment, and saw that the pumps were drawing out the old man’s blood into vials, tubes were attached to every part of him, like leeches, replacing his circulation in large part with a synthetic substitute. 

“The blood of our lord is worth a fortune to his acolytes,” the Abbott reflected. “It’s said to reveal true prophesy. Join the Sith Eternal Master Ren, take your place besides the one true throne. We are your servants.”

“And Pryde?” Kylo spoke at last. “Does he drink the blood?”

“The Allegiant General is a true believer in the sacrament and the revelations of our Holy Emperor.” the Abbott confirmed.

Hux had come back around by now and recalled the communion liquid with renewed disgust. The blood of our father indeed. 

Rey looked up at Kylo, then back at the withered body on the bed. This was a man who was single handedly responsible for so much death and suffering in the galaxy. Maybe this was a fitting ending for the monster, to be kept alive in agony, to be literally consumed by his own followers. She knew what she had to do, taking a deep breath, Rey reached out her hand to gather the force, and crushed all the medical equipment like an egg shell. Bright red blood spurted out of tubes and sprayed across the stage, the screaming that had been in her head for hours now, never increased in volume or pitch. It just stopped. She thought she heard a breath being drawn in, but maybe that was her imagination, and Darth Sidious, who was once Sheev Palpatine, finally passed across the veil. 

“I guess I won’t be able to take my grandfather’s place afterall,” Kylo smirked at the Abbott, who had turned so pail, it seemed like it was his blood that had hemorrhaged and sprayed about. 

“Your family has always been a disappointment,” he growled, “so be it. The new reign of the Sith Eternal has begun, and it is the First Order fleet that will herald our arrival.”


	12. Chapter 12

The room is thrown into darkness, the only illumination comes from Rey and Kylo’s sabers, and the Abbott’s eyes, which glow like unholy moons. Rey hears Rose scream, she turns around and sees Hux fighting hand to hand with a monk, another is dragging Rose off the edge of the stage. Poe has grabbed a crumpled piece of equipment to batter two monks, she takes in his blaster, snapped like a twig besides him. If these monks thought that destroying the blasters is all it would take to win this fight, they’re about to discover otherwise. Kylo has stepped towards the Abbott. Rey force leaps through the air and descends, severing in two the monk who had grabbed Rose. But more monks are swarming into the room like angry ants. Rey turns back to see Kylo is steadily advancing on the Abbott, deflecting lightening bolts that come not only from the old man, but also from some of the other monks that have crowded in. Each bolt of electricity lights up the stage with white intensity before it winks back into darkness, creating a strobe effect that makes movement look like a flickering holo. A bolt is directed at Rey, she blocks it effortlessly, but while she’s distracted, another group grabs Rose. Rey hears her kicking and screaming, she dispatches the three monks that charge her with vibroblades and turns, but Rose has already been dragged almost out of the room. Rey chases them down, determined to defend her friend. She bounds out through the swinging doors, but the last thing she remembers is being blinded by intense white light.

The monks begin to retreat, leaving the bodies of the slain where they fall. Kylo has his saber pressed up against the Abbott’s power shield , “I agree with you Abbott,” he dispassionately states, “Skywalkers are a disappointing lot, but I’m a Solo.” With a shrug of his shoulders and a flex of his wrist, Ren’s sword penetrates the shield and slices clean through the Abbott’s neck, the body remaining upright for the briefest of moments before it collapses to the floor besides his own severed head.

Kylo looks around to see Hux snapping the neck of the last remaining monk. He barely registers Poe has been wounded, bleeding from his side but still standing, because that’s when he feels it, the moment Rey’s force signature is snuffed out. Kylo roars and charges through the doors, obliterating them with his saber, but there’s nothing on the other side. The corridor stretches before them, empty as far as the eye can see.

Hux and Poe have caught up now and are standing besides him. “There must be a hidden entrance” Hux observes. They start desperately searching for anything. They find a smear of blood, probably from one of the monks, but nothing else. Kylo holds up his hand and focuses his rage, the dark energy in the Sith temple is enthusiastically responsive and the corridor blows apart around them. A room is exposed off to one side, but the monks have made good on their escape. A holo projector in the deserted room flares to life, showing Pryde on the bridge of The Steadfast “It’s over!” he shouts. “We have the hostages, and I have command of the fleet.”

A dull thudding noise penetrates the room. Kylo realizes that Pryde has commenced blasting the temple down around them, but the ancient structure is resilient even to the laser cannon that is being deployed. If Pryde wants to flush them out, he’s going to have to send boots in on the ground. “Allegiant General,” Kylo responds. “You have until I reach the end of this corridor to leave your bridge and flee, as fast and as far as you can go. I will hunt you down regardless and show no mercy.” With that Kylo Ren leaves the room. His course is set. He will destroy what his own hands have wrought.

At first, Pryde is dismissive of what he takes to be empty bluster from Ren. The cannons are having minimal effect, so he gives the order to leave the atmosphere and enter standard orbit. From there he intends to hit the planet’s core with the death ray, destroying the whole damn thing if he can’t take the temple down. But instead of pulling away, his ship, an immensely powerful resurgent class star destroyer starts to shudder. The bridge crew are tossed about by the sheering force that is straining the engines beyond capacity. “What’s going on!” he screams at the ensigns who are scrambling to remain at their stations. “We’re caught in some type of beam, it’s pulling us down to the temple sir.” They monitor their screens in horror before the entire ship tilts at an angle it was never designed to assume and is hauled down through the atmosphere like a fish on the end of a line.

Like everybody else onboard, Rose and Rey are thrown against the wall when The Steadfast slams into the surface of Exegol. They’ve only just picked themselves up off the ground when Pryde strides through the door of their cell holding a blaster. He yanks at the force suppression cuffs that restrain Rey’s hands so that she’s forced to walk in front of him, waving his blaster about so that Rose gets the message too. He marches them both through the wreckage, ignoring the frantic efforts of the crew who are treating the wounded and putting out fires around them. They exit through a tear in the hull and start marching across the barren landscape towards the temple.

Above them, in the skies over Exegol, Rey notices that the remainder of the fleet has repositioned into a more defensive formation. They’re not racing to assist the downed crew of The Steadfast because they have their hands full against an armada of small ships that are appearing from hyperspace like a swarm of Creatos gnats. She tilts her head up trying to get the best possible view. She thinks that she saw the Falcon leading an assault, but she can’t be certain, it’s too far off and happening so quickly. She hopes Chewie is being careful with the old girl. They’ve reached the entry to a tunnel system and Pryde pushes them through. Rey becomes aware of how distracted he has become, muttering to himself and swaying unsteadily, she realizes that it’s no longer the Allegiant General who is making the decisions.

Pryde has been ingesting increasing amounts of the Emperor’s blood for some time now. It’s given him an edge that has helped him to rise through the ranks to leadership. But it’s also allowed him to see things that he doesn’t necessarily fully understand. Maybe it was always preparing him for this moment he thinks, because somehow he knows that he has to get away from the wreckage and out of the open. He knows without knowing how, that there’s a tunnel entrance not far from the downed star cruiser. It feels as if the temple is whispering to him, inviting him into its welcoming shade. His first instinct is to kill the prisoners, but he reasons that he’s got a rabid boga by the tail, and he needs every advantage he can get if he’s going to get out of here alive. The whispers encourage him in this idea, best to keep them safe for now they suggest. It almost feels like a trance, or a half remembered dream, only maybe it’s not his dream, but the dream of the Emperor whose blood is coursing through his system.

*****************************************************************

Ren Hux and Poe have walked at some length back along the corridor before Ren stops, raising his arm and blowing out the walls again without preamble. “A little warning big guy,” Poe slurs. Hux has applied a field dressing to Poe’s wound, but he’s lost a lot of blood, and Ren has set an unrelenting pace back the way they came. Poe is still standing for now, but it’s obvious this won’t last.

Behind the debris another passageway has been revealed. Ren seems to know exactly where he’s going now, and they start off down the new passage. It leads downward, back to the ancient parts of the temple before opening up into a cavern that’s made up of hexagonal blocks of basalt. Ren stops and Hux, who has been supporting Poe since they entered the passage, takes the opportunity to sit Poe down on one of the rock faces.  
Hux turns to Kylo “Where are you taking us?”

“He’ll come here,” Kylo replies.

“Who?”

“the dog that presumed to touch her,” Kylo responds.

“Pryde? He’s probably in the next sector by now,” Hux exclaims. “I can’t believe he didn’t blow up the planet on his way out.”

“He tried,” Kylo grins without any humor, “but I had other ideas.”

Hux stares back at Kylo, the crazed glint in the Supreme Leader’s eyes isn’t lost on him. But he doesn’t have time to question him any further, because just then they hear a noise up ahead and Pryde steps into the far end of the cavern, preceded by Rey and Rose. Hux is so relieved Rose is still alive, he doesn’t understand how this has happened, but he practically vaults over the rocks towards her. He’s going to tear Enric Pryde in two with his bare hands.

The Allegiant General for his part, appears genuinely shocked to have come upon them here. But he quickly raises his blaster in a trembling hand to Rey’s temple and calls out to Hux to “stop right there.”

Hux stares at the gun, he blinks, but his eyes are still registering the same thing, the muzzle looks to have melted. The barrel is drooping and the opening where the power bolt emerges has all but closed up, like a child’s confectionary left out on a sunny day. Rey is perfectly calm, if anything she’s smiling, eyes locked firmly on Kylo. Hux has no idea why they’re here and not dead in an execution chamber on The Steadfast, half way to Coruscant, but he’s certain of one thing. Ren has complete control of this situation. Pryde’s hand had been trembling when he first entered, now his whole body is visibly shaking. Sweat is pouring out of him, and then Hux notices the blood, leaking out of his tear ducts and his nose, oozing from his ears and sliding down the side of his neck, to stain the top of his collar.

Pryde can stand no longer and topples to his knees. He turns the blaster against his own head and pulls the trigger, but all he’s holding by now is a barely recognizable lump of plastoid. Hux can’t tear his eyes off the man. Every vain in his neck and face has become clearly visible, pulsing and glowing. There are points where the pressure has become too much, and the blood vessel has burst, forming a luminous patch beneath the skin. Pryde’s eyes are bulging too, locked on Ren, who finally steps forward.

“My love,” Kylo speaks softly to Rey. He gestures with his finger and the cuffs shatter and fall to the ground. She steps into his open arms and they embrace.

“Are you hurt? I tried to bring the ship down as smoothly as possible.” Rey shakes her head to reassures him that she is fine, but realizes that the spark of life that she’s carried since Creatos has gone. Tears well up in her eyes and Kylo becomes aware of their loss. They’d known about the pregnancy for such a short amount of time, it’s barely a week since they were together in the sacred pools, it’s crazy, but they were attached to the nascent life they had felt, had dared to imagine how their futures together might be. Now it was gone before it had ever truly begun. This was the price the oracle had warned them of.

Kylo turns at last back to Pryde, who has been unnaturally frozen for the past few minutes. “I warned you to run Allegiant General, but I seem to have reached the end of the corridor, and here you are.”

“I don’t understand,” Rey asks Kylo. “What’s happening to him?”

“The blood that he’s been taking over the years, it made him more aggressive and insightful, it gave him an advantage that he exploited and reveled in. But the blood is in thrall to the darkness here, and the darkness is mine. We’re standing at the epicenter of the most powerful Sith temple ever constructed Rey,” he informs her, in the same patient tone he has used to instruct her in so many things. “It’s sole purpose is to magnify and focus power, but the Sith only recognize strength, everything here exists only to serve the most powerful, the master.”

“And that is you?”

Kylo just looks at her in answer. But the truth of the matter is writ large, he is the biggest shark in this ocean of darkness. “If I could bring back our child......” he doesn’t finish the statement. They will face their grief together, just as they will face every other challenge that comes their way.

While they are talking, Hux steps up to Rose. “Are you injured?” he asks, his concern for her a tangible thing. Rose throws her arms around him and buries herself into his chest. She’s shaking her head to indicate that she’s fine, but she remains where she is, tucked up against him.

Poe coughs from his perch on the rock. “I don’t mean to interrupt this moment, but maybe we should get out of here, possibly find a med droid, and then we can hug?”

It’s then that everyone becomes aware of a new noise traveling up through the same tunnel that Pryde had emerged from. Whatever it is, it’s loud and approaching fast. Kylo reignites his sword and steps in front of Rey, but even he is surprised when a herd of orbaks bursts forth from the tunnel. Finn is mounted on one of the lead beasts and is clearly in command. Poe, Rose and Rey all start cheering wildly.


End file.
